


Eclipsed

by Aeridne



Series: Courting Souls [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Compliant, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Implied Relationships, M/M, Multi, Romantic Soulmates, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tattoos, Time Skips, Volleyball Dorks in Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:27:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 103,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28889091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeridne/pseuds/Aeridne
Summary: Alternate universe in which everyone gets their soulmate tattoo sometime on their fifteenth birthday. Some people put great stock into the phenomenon while others simply don't care. This story follows those who try to balance their daily lives and the discovery of their soulmates.Or: How Tsukki, Hinata, and Atsumu figure things out... eventually.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Miya Atsumu, Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima Kei, Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima Kei/Miya Atsumu, Miya Atsumu/Tsukishima Kei
Series: Courting Souls [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2019827
Comments: 154
Kudos: 171





	1. TK

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So, this is the third story of the series! It can probably be read separately, however, some character development happens in the first and second parts of the series that really add to the overall feel of the story. As such, I'd recommend reading those first and in order... This story (like the others in the series) follows the manga/anime very closely, including actual scenes and some dialogue (by Haruichi Furudate), but has some added soulmate elements. It's written from three different perspectives and switches off between them each chapter. Elaborate character depictions are my personal headcanon for the story, and there are spoilers for the entire manga series, including time skips!

Kei strolled along towards the entry gate to his new school, Karasuno, after just meeting his new volleyball team. Both he and his best friend, Tadashi, had signed up and were told that they were having a casual practice match at Saturday’s practice to get a feel for their skills on the court. The captain seemed like the reliable type; stable, by the rulebook, and he mentioned that they had two other first-years teammates joining them as well. However, the other two had caused some trouble on day one and were now required to win the upcoming three on three match to secure their positions in the club. Not that any of that really mattered to Kei. People who acted rashly and caused unnecessary trouble were just walking headaches; it wasn’t worth the time or effort to deal with them. Therefore, the match on Saturday didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Kei glanced around the school's campus as he and Tadashi walked along. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted two guys tossing around a volleyball in a small, grassy field. Kei raised his eyebrows at the pair for a second, knowing that it was ridiculous and potentially dangerous to play volleyball on unstable footing like that. He idly mused to himself that they must be the other new recruits and unconsciously started heading for them to confirm.  _ Wow, this just screams desperation. _

They got a little closer, crunching nonchalantly through the grass, and Kei immediately recognized the taller guy. He was most definitely Kageyama, notorious ‘king of the court’ from Kitagawa Daiichi middle school. His royal highness tossed the ball perfectly right over to the other guy and Kei swiftly stuck out an arm, catching it easily before it met its target. He wondered what these two were really like, but didn’t have high hopes since they made such a huge mess of things on the first day. 

“Wow, you really are practicing outside,” Kei commented, lifting the ball up and out of reach.

“Hn?” The small guy hummed, clearly confused about where his ball had gone.

“So, are you the two first-years who slapped ‘problem child’ labels on your own foreheads your first day?” Kei taunted lightly, wanting to see how they’d react.

Tadashi came up close behind him and commented on their appearance, “yikes! T-shirts?! Aren’t you cold?”

The small guy spun around looking up blankly into Kei’s face. Then his expression suddenly shifted, aghast, like Kei was some sort of unknown beast and he hopped backward a few feet to make space between them. The pipsqueak recovered from his shock almost immediately, then bounced around trying to snag the ball back, yelping, “hey! Give that back!”

Instantly, Kei felt justified in his earlier thinking that these guys would definitely be the source of many headaches to come. This energetic guy in front of him was so incredibly loud without even having to say anything at all. His hair was bright orange, and despite his short stature he was quite springy; seemingly taking up more space than one would think he could. Kei caught a good glimpse of his face while the other hopped around and almost cringed at his intense, unwavering, honey-brown eyes. Kei was already starting to feel one of those headaches creeping up his spine. It was like a low-key, radiating thrum similar to staying out in the beating sun for a few seconds too long on a particularly dry afternoon.

“Isn’t it past the time for elementary school kids to go home?” He jeered, smirking slightly.

The squirt bristled like a little, yappy dog, “who the heck are you-“

“You’re the other first-years who’re supposed to be joining up, right?” Kageyama asked, completely steam-rolling the small fry.

“Hey! I was talking fir-“

“How tall are you?” Kageyama continued, curiously, and impassive to the other guy’s squawking.

“Hey!”

“Tsukki is six-two! I bet he’ll be six-three soon!” Tadashi put in excitedly like he was answering game show trivia.

“S-six feet?!” The small guy squeaked, but Kei ignored him too.

“What are you bragging for, Yamaguchi?” He commented instead, giving his friend the side-eye.

“Ah! Sorry, Tsukki,” Tadashi apologized lightly. He didn’t usually mind his friend’s commentary, but it was a little inopportune at times.

He decided to ignore that too and turned to Kageyama for some answers, “you’re Kageyama from Kitagawa Daiichi, right? What’s an elite like you doing stuck at Karasuno?”

“What?” Kageyama asked gruffly. 

“H-Hey!.. you!” The small guy piped up again, staring at them with clenched fists and looking like he was about to blast off into space with excess energy, “tomorrow! We’re gonna win!”

Kei paused for a second or two, rolling the volleyball he held against his head to try to smoosh some of that thrumming sensation and peered into the shrimp’s extremely agitated face.  _ I didn’t tease you that much… cool it, shrimp.  _

“Oh,” He dropped his haughty expression and adopted a more congenial one, realizing it was most likely their desperation to win the upcoming match that spurred on their open hostility, “this game might be important to the two of you… but to me, it’s just whatever. Win or lose, I honestly don’t care. But you two will be in trouble if you don’t win, right?” 

Kei waited a beat in the silence that followed then started tossing the ball casually into the air and catching it again before smiling lightly, “so, want me to throw the game for you?”

“Whaaaat?!” The small guy shouted angrily while Kageyama stared back, looking pissy and unimpressed.

“Throw the game or give it everything you’ve got, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to win.” His majesty retorted. 

“It’s  _ we _ !” The shrimp griped hotly.

“Haha! Such confidence! I guess that’s a ‘king’ for you!” Kei replied airily, giving them a few fake chuckles along with it. 

Kageyama seemed properly irritated now, “don’t you ever call-“

“Oh ho! So it’s true?” Kei pressed onward, cutting him off.

“What is?” Kageyama twitched at the question, asking one in return.

“The rumor I heard that said when you get called the ‘king of the court’.. it pisses you off,” Kei answered, smirking slightly, despite trying to keep the humor off his face. But it was starting to become challenging because Kageyama was just making it so easy to push all the right buttons to detonation. 

Kei started to walk past him, wondering if he’d blow, “what’s so bad about being called a king anyway? King’s are cool! I think ‘king’ is the perfect nickname for you, your majesty.”

Kageyama glared at him, murderously, “what’re you trying to do?”

Kei continued on his way past, casually tossing the ball and trying to ignore that incessant hum while he answered quietly, “I watched that prefectural qualifier game last year... I’m surprised the other guys put up with your self-centered setting like that. I wouldn’t! Oh, wait! Right, right, it’s because they couldn’t that things turned out the way they did.” 

Kageyama’s face contorted in very clear contempt and he roughly grabbed the front of Kei’s shirt like he was thinking of throwing a punch. Kei heard the small guy shouting out in surprise and a startled ‘Tsukki’ from Tadashi, but his focus was on the king in front of him. Kageyama glared at him for a tense moment, then released his hold and stormed off, muttering lowly, “we’re done for tonight.”  _ Ah, he fizzled out instead. _

“What?! Hey!” The shrimp exclaimed, watching Kageyama go hesitantly like he might actually chase him down. Kei wondered how they had such a strong relationship after only knowing each other for just about a week, probably. It was a marvel Kageyama got that kind of undiminished support after witnessing his tyrannical kingliness during that past match. At least that aspect of these new teammates was interesting. 

Kei casually tossed the ball into the air, catching it in a hand, and taunted again, “what, running away? Looks like the King’s not all he’s cracked up to be. Who knows, maybe tomorrow I might just happen to beat his majesty, the king-“

He stopped abruptly, mid-sentence, as the small guy leapt unbelievably high into the air and snatched the descending volleyball. The guy landed, clutching the ball in his arms, and shouted angrily, “shut up about all that king stuff already! Don’t forget me! I’m here too! Tomorrow I’m gonna zing one right past your ear!” 

Kei was taken aback briefly by the guy’s lofty determination and glared at him with scrutiny, trying to figure how true his claims would actually be. The latter flinched and retreated a step or two at the gaze and stammered out, “w-what? You t-tryin’ to s-start somethin’...?” 

Kei just continued to leer at him for a moment, then washed the expression from his face and put on something more benignly sincere in its place, “c’mon, what are you getting all worked up for? Tomorrow, let’s have some fun and not stress out, okay? I mean, it’s just a dumb game.”

“What do you mean a dumb game?!” The guy squawked indignantly.

Kei kept up his plastered-on smile, “I mean exactly what I said. Anyways, see you two tomorrow!” Then he started to head towards the school gate, intending to leave this time instead of getting caught up in arguments with hot-headed volleyball nuts.

“Hold it!” The guy yelled, “who are you anyway?!”

Kei paused and looked back over his shoulder, “Tsukishima Kei, class 1-4. As of today, I’m your new teammate.. oh wait, tomorrow we’re opponents, right. I’m looking forward to witnessing his majesty’s royal setting in person.”

He turned and stalked off, noticing Tadashi chasing after him to catch up and hearing the shrimpy guy gripe loudly about ‘jerkfaces’ or something. 

“Tsukki! Wait up!” Tadashi called out, jogging to close their distance, “what’s wrong?”

Kei groaned and glanced back at him, “stupidly intense people who get all worked up over a dumb game piss me off. The King, that Shrimp.. just looking at them irritates me.” 

Tadashi caught up fully then matched his pace with quick strides, “okay.. but.. they’re our teammates now.. and we’ll have to spend a lot of time with them, so, uh, don'tcha think riling them up so much is a little counter-productive?”

“It’s just a dumb game, Tadashi,” Kei reiterated mildly, “it’s for the best they fizzle out now than explode later when things don’t go as they’d hope for.”

Tadashi looked back at him in silent, puzzled curiosity. Kei smirked a little and bumped his shoulder into the other’s while they walked, “I make no promises to remain quiet about their gameplay, but I will play like I usually do tomorrow, okay?” 

Kei inwardly hoped that’d be enough to throw Tadashi off his back for a little while. The latter always seemed to know exactly what he was feeling about things before he came to terms with it himself; he usually evaded the gently nudging lectures with a pretty high success rate. Tadashi seemed to be appeased since he didn’t make any further comments and walked along contentedly. Kei smiled a little to himself and put the loosely draped headphones around his neck back over his ears to listen to some music. He was already feeling cooler and more collected with that radiating thrum gradually dissipating away into stillness.


	2. HS

Shouyou stopped peddling, freely speeding down the slope of the hill on his bike, nearly arriving at Karasuno. It was the Saturday morning of the practice match that would signal his initiation into a legitimate volleyball club. He grinned, gaining momentum, feeling like he was flying and it almost seemed like he could with how giddy he was to be part of a real team.

He slammed on the breaks, skidding to a rough stop outside the volleyball gym, and hastily locked up his bike. Just a few steps later he was finally standing inside his new gym again, looking around at all his new teammates, and completely ready to go. It would be so much better playing volleyball with a team that actually wanted to play volleyball and not the mishmash group of guys he rounded up to play with him during middle school; and he’d get to play on the same team as the ‘Little Giant’ used to, which was his inspiration to play in the first place. His mind buzzed with excitement from the idea that he’d be able to spike some balls during an actual match with an actual setter. He spied on said setter for a moment, taking in his grumpy, terse mood.  _ Ahhh yeeeah! I’m gonna spike so many balls! Kageyama seems a little off though from yesterday.  _

“Alright, guys! Let’s get this started!” Sawamura-san called out, “I’ll join Tsukishima and Yamaguchi to even out the teams.”

“Wha? Captain, you’re gonna play?!” Shouyou asked, surprised that his own side for the match would have another veteran opponent now.

“Relax, relax! Tanaka is better than me on offense. But I won’t go easy on you, okay?” Sawamura-san waved him off genially. Shouyou nodded and started walking towards their side of the court to join Kageyama and Tanaka-san. 

Then he distinctly heard Tsukishima, that super tall, jerkface guy from yesterday say, “Ah, ahem, captain.. who should we crush.. ah, I mean, who should we contain first, Tanaka-san or the shrimp?”

Tanaka-san looked back over his shoulder suspiciously, and Shouyou bristled, following his example, but the tall guy just continued his taunting, “oh, and I’m very much looking forward to watching his majesty, the king, lose.”

Shouyou heard Yamaguchi pipe up nervously, “gah! Tsukki! Shhhh they can hear you! Shh!”

“That’s the point, I want them to hear me… and I’d appreciate it if they’d lose their cool for me too,” Tsukishima muttered, but his voice still carried across the net. Shouyou glanced over his shoulder again at the tall blonde, feeling a thrumming sensation that tingled up and down his spine.  _ Ugh. What is that?! _

Sawamura-san grimaced, then said somewhat jokingly, “wow, Tsukishima, you have one spectacularly warped personality…” but Shouyou was starting to get the impression that it really wasn’t a joke or very funny. He peeked over to Kageyama and saw the other wearing a grim, irritated expression already.  _ Good grief. _

“Oh my gawsh! Did you hear that? All those things he said?” Tanaka-san said theatrically like he was gossiping, “goodness that Tsukishima brat. I guess we're just gonna hafta..” he dropped the faux-nice tone and growled out threateningly, “give ‘im the thrashing of his life!”

Shouyou stuck his tongue out at them across the net, riding Tanaka-san’s coattails on that threat. Tsukishima smirked, looking mostly unfazed while Yamaguchi paled a little. Sawamura-san simply laughed, obviously not taking any of the hostility very seriously at all.

The match started then and Tanaka-san seemed really riled up, smashing a ball down so harshly that it blew right past that snarky, blonde instigator. Just the next toss, Shouyou saw that Kageyama was going to send it his way.  _ Tanaka-san is awesome! But I get to hit the ball too!  _

He launched himself into the air really high and smacked the ball down, but Tsukishima must have seen it coming and blocked it. Shouyou landed and stared at him through the net, feeling that odd monotonous buzz again.  _ Argh! The walls are here too.. again I’m blocked by them, just like in middle school… and this wall seems to be electric too. Seriously, what is that?! _

Tsukishima peered down at him through the net, looking super smug, “I was really shocked when I saw that yesterday. For a shrimp, you sure can jump! If only you were a measly twelve inches taller, then you might’ve been a superstar”  _ ugh! Jerkface! He’s tall but there’s only one of him! I’ll just score the next time. _

But that was easier to think than do, as Tsukishima blocked him nearly every hit afterwards. It almost felt like he was experiencing a weird sort of static shock every time too. He glared across the net, gnashing his teeth to keep from saying something. It was incredibly frustrating to finally have a real setter who actually set him balls, then spike those balls over the net only to be shut down and zapped every time. 

“C’mon you two, I’m stuffing you like a turkey. Why don’t you break out your royal set? You know, the one that leaves your opponents in the dust. Oh, riiiight, that tends to leave your hitter in the dust too, doesn't it?” Tsukishima commented, smirking at them through the net. Shouyou just scowled back while Yamaguchi smacked the ball into said net during their serve.

“Shut up,” Kageyama murmured quietly then picked up the ball as it rolled lazily towards him, “I don’t need to use any of my fast attacks. I have other ways to beat you.”

Then he stalked off to the end of the court to serve. Shouyou brightened at the idea of Kageyama taking them by storm by serves alone and shouted, “bring out the killer serve!”

It didn’t last long, as Sawamura-san was apparently awesome at ground defense and he bumped the ball easily to his teammates. Yamaguchi slammed it down for a point and Shouyou groaned, lamenting the missed opportunity for his side to get the upper hand. 

“C’mon, your majesty, don’t you think it’s about time for the king to get serious?” Tsukishima taunted again.  _ This again?! What is all this king business anyway?! _

“Hnn?!” Shouyou groaned, then griped at Tsukishima, “hey! How come you keep trying to mess with him?! What’s the royal set or whatever, and why does it matter?” 

“What? Don’t you know the reason he’s called the ‘king of the court’?” Tsukishima asked, looking wickedly delighted to share.

“Huh? It’s because he’s a super-elite amazing player. People at other schools started calling him that because he intimidates them, right?” Shouyou replied honestly. He hadn’t heard any rumors about why Kageyama was called ‘king of the court’ because he didn’t previously go to a school with an established volleyball club and wasn’t in any tournament circles to hear gossip. But it seemed obvious to him that Kageyama was a ‘king’ simply because he was the best. 

“Haha! There are a lot of people who think that’s it,” Tsukishima said while laughing a bit, then he turned serious like he was telling a ghost story, “but it wasn’t other players who started calling him ‘king of the court’. Rumor has it that it began inside Kitagawa Daiichi itself, by the King’s own teammates, in fact. They were calling him a self-centered king, a tyrannical dictator who always had to have his way. I’d heard the rumors beforehand, of course, but when I watched  _ that _ game, I understood why…” Tsukishima paused and looked directly at Kageyama, “after all, during that finals match your tyranny went too far and you got benched.”

The gym was silent, and Shouyou shifted his gaze around, seeing everyone else listening to Tsukishima’s story too. Kageyama just stared at the ground in front of him, his face stony and grim. 

Tsukishima seemed to be waiting for some sort of response from the steely setter, but when he wasn’t forthcoming, the blonde continued, “uh-huh.. and thanks to that game, you’re terrified to even attempt a quick attack.”

Shouyou knitted his brows together in disbelief and looked back at Kageyama, who was grimacing darkly. Then Tanaka-san chimed in, “y’know.. I’m gettin’ reeeeal tired of hearing you talk.”

“Tanaka,” Sawamura-san interrupted and gave the other a stern look. Tanaka-san just peered back at Sawamura-san, frowning, but remained silent.

“You’re right. The thought of someone not being there to hit my toss utterly terrifies me,” Kageyama said quietly, breaking the silence with his admission. Shouyou stared at him, wondering why he would put a limit on himself based on players that he didn’t even toss to anymore. It didn’t make a lot of sense.

“But you’re not in middle school anymore,” Shouyou stated easily. “your tosses will reach me so there’s no problem.”

Shouyou waited for a beat, seeing Kageyama staring back at him kind of absently, but he decided to continue anyway, “if there’s someone there to set the ball for me, I’ll go after it no matter what. We’re gonna beat Tsukishima and join the team for real! Then you’re gonna get to be the official setter and put the ball up for me! What else matters right now besides that?!”

Shouyou glanced towards the snarky, electric, opposing middle blocker and pointed an accusing finger at his snide face, “the real problem is how to slam it past you!”

Shouyou heard Sawamura-san and Tanaka-san let out a few amused chuckles and Tsukishima frowned, looking right back into his face, “y’know…” he started, then turned away, but Shouyou still felt that weird persistent energy building up around the net, “that kind of pure, earnest, and straightforward attitude.. makes me sick.”

Shouyou just peered at the back of his head, “hn?”

“Enthusiasm and guts aren’t enough to make up for being a foot too short. If you think that if you just try really hard everything will magically work out, you have another thing coming,” Tsukishima commented quietly, but Shouyou couldn’t tell where this severity was really coming from. It didn’t matter what Tsukishima said anyway, because it wasn’t going to stop him from trying; regardless of all the hurdles he’d have to leap over.

He squinted at Tsukishima across the net, but the game started up again, stealing away his attention. Kageyama got under the ball and Shouyou noticed that he and Tanaka-san were running to jump at the same time. It was silly, as Tanaka had just bumped the ball to Kageyama to set in the first place. It seemed obvious that Shouyou would be the best option to send the ball next, despite the looming reality of being blocked again. He started sprinting up to the net and heard Tanaka shout ‘give it to me!’. Then Kageyama may have shouted ‘Tanaka-san’ but Shouyou had tunnel vision as he sprang into the air and screeched, “Kageyama! I’m here!” 

Surprisingly, Kageyama snapped the ball to him so fast that he almost missed it and his fingertips brushed the surface with just enough force to nudge it over the net. It fell lazily and they scored a point. 

“Whew! That was close! Thought I missed for a second!” Shouyou sang out gleefully as he landed, happy that he’d finally scored a point without being blocked.  _ Ahh! Even without slamming it, that still felt awesome! _

“What the heck was that all of a sudden?!” Kageyama shouted, mostly in surprise, maybe. Shouyou just wanted to hit the ball and score. It was as simple as that, but he couldn’t do that if the ball didn’t come to him at all.

“The ball came, Kageyama! It was there! I don’t know what it was like for you in middle school, okay?! All I know is that I’m super grateful for any ball that gets put up for me! I’ll jump to wherever it is! And I’ll hit it no matter what kind of set it is! So.. whenever you get the ball, send it to me!” Shouyou yelled, a little irritated that it was taking so long to get this through the surly setter’s head. He was starting to get a distinct impression that the guy was really thick.

“You two know how to do a quick-set?!” Tanaka-san exclaimed, coming over to them.

“What’s that?” Shouyou asked, really having no idea.

“That super-fast attack you just did!” Tanaka-san shouted incredulously like he couldn’t believe Shouyou wouldn’t know what moves he just performed. 

“Huh? Nope. I’ve only ever spiked balls that get tossed up in big, high arcs.” Shouyou replied blankly, drawing a little arc in the air with his finger.

“But you just did it a second ago! Then there was that one you hit in that game when your setter popped it in the wrong direction..” Tanaka-san said, still sounding pretty frustrated. Shouyou thought back to which game Tanaka-san was referring to, and it must have been the only one he had played during that tournament in middle school; but he didn’t remember how he hit that ball exactly since he just simply went after it.

“Huh? Oh, that? I don’t remember how I did that,” Shouyou said, tilting his head a bit as he tried to recall it now in his mind’s eye.

“Argh!” Tanaka-san groaned and rubbed his hands down his face.

“But from now on, I’ll hit any kind of set!” Shouyou said excitedly, looking back and forth between Tanaka-san and Kageyama, “any kind! Got it?!”

Kageyama looked contemplative for a moment, “we’ve never done any serious combo practice together. It’d be impossible for us to pull off a quick set now…” Shouyou’s jaw dropped at the guy in unsettled shock.  _ Impossible?! I didn’t even know he knew what that word meant?! Mr.ICanWinAllOnMyOwn!  _

“What’s wrong with you today?! All this acting quiet and timid and stuff is creeping me out! Quit it!” Shouyou squawked at him, indignant.

“Shut up!” The latter bit back.

“The King sure isn’t acting very royal today, is he?” Tsukishima commented, smirking across the net, the air relentless with that buzz building up again.

Shouyou flinched at the comment, starting to get really irritated with all this ‘king’ stuff, Tsukishima’s smug face, and thrumming energy that just seemed to pulse right out of him like he was some sort of beacon, “shut up! I’ll zing one right past you next time, just you wait!” 

“Geez, look at you getting all ticked off again,” Tsukishima replied easily, smiling nicely. Shouyou paused and took in this new, pleasant expression, then frowned himself. Tsukishima continued, “just winging it and trying your very best isn’t going to work for everything, you know?” 

Shouyou peered at him, puzzled by his genial tone, but then Tsukishima put his hands on his hips casually and sneered, “see, some people just aren’t cut out for some things.”

Out of his periphery, Shouyou saw Tanaka-san start towards Tsukishima an inch, but Sawamura-san snagged his shoulder. Shouyou just stared at the blonde for a moment or two, frown deepening before saying, “yeah... back in middle school, and here in high school too… no matter what I do, how fast I run, how high I jump, I still get stopped by blockers all the time. But… when I saw that match and heard them say ‘he’s like a little giant’, I wanted to  _ be _ like that too. So yeah, being short is a disadvantage. I might not be cut out for this. But I don’t care. That doesn’t matter to me. This is the only body I’ve got. I wanna keep trying and I wanna keep winning, so I can stay out on the court as long as I can.”

Shouyou didn’t look away from staring into Tsukishima’s slightly taken aback face and the latter paused for a moment before frowning too, “that’s a nice thought, but there isn’t anything you can do. Nice thoughts and sentiments mean nothing in reality. Or do you think you can  _ will _ yourself a foot taller? If you want to be a defense-only libero, that’s one thing, but a hitter? No.”

Shouyou put his hands on his hips and didn't drop his gaze from the blonde, floored that he would have such a harsh opinion when they didn’t even know each other; or hadn’t even remotely tested all their limits on the court yet. He felt Kageyama stomp up to them, putting his hands on his hips too, and stared down Tsukishima through the net, “I open up the wall that blocks the spiker. That’s my job as the setter.”

Then Kageyama grabbed Shouyou and dragged him bodily away from the net a few feet. Tanaka-san joined them, then Kageyama turned to Shouyou and said quietly, “listen, if we can’t go through, we’ll go around. I want you to use every ounce of your speed and reflexes to run up and hit my set. Got it?”

“Bwah?! Was that supposed to be an explanation for a quick set?!” Tanaka-san griped.

“Got it!” Shouyou chirped.

“Liar! You sooo did not get that!” Tanaka-san complained again, looking between them, frowning.

“We’re gonna give it a try anyway!” Shouyou and Kageyama both said back to him, determined to try the impossible. 

Shouyou marched away to get in position for the next rally, swinging his dominant arm around to loosen it up for spiking, “all riiiiight!”

The next few attempts didn’t go so well as he thought they would. Shouyou jumped and jumped and jumped, but kept missing those super-fast sets that Kageyama zinged past him. He knew the setter was getting irritated at this point, but Shouyou couldn’t seem to get the timing down, despite his unnaturally capable agility. After another attempt and a snarky side remark from Tsukishima that Shouyou purposely decided to ignore, Kageyama turned to him and nagged, “c’mon! You’re fast! Can’t you, I dunno, come in more like.. whoosh! You know.. zoom?”

“‘Whoosh’ or ‘zoom’, which is it?!” Shouyou yelped back, starting to get frustrated too at not being able to pick up the skill faster. 

“That’s not the important part!” Tanaka-san snipped too like he was nearly fed up with the pair of them. 

The next second, Sugawara-san stepped into their argument, calling out to Kageyama. They talked for a bit about using Shouyou’s natural abilities to his advantage when Kageyama sets and other things about comparing their skills as setters; but Shouyou didn’t follow too closely as he kept musing on how to approach that lighting-fast set and actually lay a hand on it before it flashed by completely. Shouyou blinked and realized Kageyama was staring at him a little too intensely. He flinched, throwing his hands up in martial arts protection mode, “bwah?”

“I..I’m jealous of your athletic reflexes.” Kageyama said, reluctant but unwaveringly.

“Huh?!” Shouyou exclaimed in surprise.

“That’s why you piss me off! It’s wasted on you!”

“Bwaaah?!” Shouyou squawked at the backhanded compliment.

Kageyama wasn’t derailed by his confusion and continued, “I have no choice but to utilize all of your ability! I’ll make you use everything you’ve got. Run as fast as you can. Jump as high as you can.. and fly. Don’t worry about the ball. I’ll bring it to you.”

As much as Shouyou wanted to argue with the guy about his latest verbal attack, he had also said that Shouyou could fly. That was really all he wanted to hear, and do. He nodded along, then paused, definitely missing something though, “huh? Bring the ball to me? What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry about that. All you have to do is run as fast as you can to where there are no blockers.. and then jump as high as you can and then swing. Don’t bother looking for the ball. Don’t worry about trying to meet it,” Kageyama answered bluntly.

“Huh?! If I don’t look for the ball, I’ll miss it!” Shouyou griped back, still lost on how this would work out.

“Yeah, maybe!” Kageyama snipped back.

“Hey!”

“Still, I wanna give it a try…” Kageyama said, looking weirdly resolute. 

Shouyou paused as he took in the other’s determination, “okay.”

Shouyou decided to do exactly as Kageyama instructed. During the very next opportunity, he sprinted up the court to where there were no blockers, leaped into the air as high as he could, closed his eyes, and swung his arm down. He immediately felt the sensation of the firm yet supple surface of the volleyball against his palm as he drove it down. He wrenched his eyes open as he fell back down to the court and saw the ball smack the floor right past Yamaguchi’s petrified body. 

“It hit! It hit my hand!” He exclaimed excitedly, marveling at how the ball had felt, magically appearing in his palm like that, “whoooaaaa!”

Shouyou reveled in the sensation of his stinging hand and examined it closely as it started turning red from the slap. It was definitely the best feeling of the entire game so far. He relished in the memory and said aloud to himself, “that was sooooo coool!”

Then he hopped over to Kageyama, who was talking to the others and looking shocked, but he ignored all that and said shrilly, “what was that?! What did you do?! The ball! The ball hit my hand! It really hit me right in the hand!” and he extended out his arm, waving his reddened hand around in Kageyama’s face as proof.

“Hey! Did you really have your eyes closed that whole time?!” Kageyama yelled, pointing a finger at him accusingly. 

Shouyou snapped his mouth shut and stared at the setter, then complained, “well, yeah. You told me I shouldn’t look at the ball, right? If my eyes are open, I kinda can’t help but look for it, so I closed them.”  _ What’s the problem here? I did exactly what you told me to and I hit the ball! _

“Y-yeah.. I did say that, but still…” Kageyama retorted, a little meekly and Shouyou was starting to feel frustrated again by all of the fuss over the particulars. He had hit the ball and everything worked out.

“Hey! It worked, right? What’s wrong with that?!” He protested hotly.

“I know it worked, but who trusts one-hundred percent?” Kageyama nagged back.

“I can’t help it! Trusting is the only way I know how to do it!” Shouyou argued.  _ Seriously, who cares?! Just send me more balls like that and I’ll wear a blindfold if I have to! _

Kageyama stared back at him wide-eyed but dropped the expression a moment later and quietly told Shouyou and Tanaka his plan for winning the match. Shouyou just listened, really getting a good picture of how oddly crafty Kageyama really was when it came to volleyball. He didn’t really expect that level of strategy to be piled on top of all that elite skill. Suddenly, he felt really lucky to be able to have a setter like this as his new teammate, and wondered idly if all setters were like this. Shaking himself back into the moment, he nodded along like he had been fully paying attention and got into position.

They tried out the new super fast quick several times and it was a little hit or miss; either Shouyou hit it, or it hit him. He lamented his stinging cheek, rubbing at it lightly, but not regretting all the attempts.  _ That feeling.. the solid weight of the ball hitting my hand. I really love that feeling. _

Shouyou glanced across the net and saw Tsukishima squinting back at him and saying something quietly to Yamaguchi.  _ Ahhh, they look like they’re gonna follow me. Time to dodge, then. _

In the next play, Shouyou made sure to dash across the court away from Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. He sprang into the air, getting to the highest striking point he could muster, and peeked his eyes open once he felt that solid weight beneath his palm. Slapping the ball down right past Tsukishima, he finally caught a glimpse of the view he had achieved. Everything seemed so clear from this height with all the details whizzing around as if in slow motion; like the ball distinctly zooming straight past Tsukishima and his very disgruntled expression.  _ So this is what it looks like, the view from the top. _

He landed back down and relished in his stinging hand once again, committing to memory the feeling of it all and knowing that this was going to be his ultimate goal. 

They won the first set, coming in from behind and sweeping it out from under the others’ feet with their new, supersonic weapon. Then in no time at all, they snatched the second set as well. For a simple three-versus-three game, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Sawamura-san just couldn’t match the offensive power that Kageyama, Shouyou, and Tanaka-san put out.

After the game, Shouyou grimaced to himself while he looked across the court at Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. They were catching their breath, drinking water, and Shouyou couldn’t shake the feeling of his newfound camaraderie; along with that super persistent thrumming. These were his fellow teammates now. He and Kageyama were officially members of Karasuno’s volleyball team since they won the match.  _ Well, I’m going to be with these guys for at least the next three years now. My teammates.. I have teammates! Annnd they’re all in this volleyball club on purpose!.. and I think I have an idea of what all that buzz is too..  _

Shouyou nudged Kageyama and the setter scowled at him, but followed along as Shouyou started walking over to the other first-years, “Tsukishima!”

Shouyou held out his hand expectantly, knowing that opponents should shake hands before and after games to show good sportsmanship. Despite all of Tsukishima’s rude snark, they’d have to find a way to get along now, and he wanted to test out a theory.

Tsukishima just gazed back at him, looking both haughty and tired, “what?”

“Players are supposed to shake hands before and after a game. We missed it before.. and we are teammates, after all. Not that I like it.” Shouyou responded, pouting and reluctant, although nearly certain. Tsukishima just glowered back at him, but Shouyou didn’t back down and whispered a little frantically after seeing Sawamura-san glance over at them all, “c’mon, hurry and do it! Don’t you know? If we don’t show a sense of being teammates, we’re gonna get kicked out of the gym again!” 

“Uh, you two got kicked out of the gym because, one, you were dumb and fighting. Two, you ignored the captain when he said to quit it. And three, you knocked the vice principal’s toupee off his head in front of everybody,” Tsukishima replied blandly.

“Wh-who cares about the stupid details?” Shouyou growled out, then pounced at him, “shake my hand!”

Tsukishima blanched and tried to dodge, shouting ‘argghh!’, accidentally tossing his water bottle into the air behind him. Shouyou was quicker though, and snagged the blonde's hand, giving it a firm shake. After he definitely felt that monotonous thrumming spike for a split second, he grinned at his victory and bounded away to talk to Tanaka-san; Kageyama followed in his wake. He peeked back over his shoulder, seeing the tall guy staring at his hand in irked disbelief like he had been infected by the plague and Shouyou laughed.  _ Yep, that’s what I thought. The air doesn’t just buzz for no reason, and none of that feels like some sort of air pressure change like it would going up and down a mountain. I don’t think I even need to see it. For all that snark, his reactions are kinda funny. It’s going to be hard to get along with him though. Yamaguchi seems nice, at least there’s that.. and Kageyama can let me fly. This is going to be great, I can feel it. _


	3. TK

Kei walked into the volleyball club room after classes ended and set down his things by his locker. He glanced around at his teammates, who were getting ready for practice, and heaved a small sigh. They were already being boisterous, loud, and obnoxious, which Kei didn’t even think was possible as it was only the Friday after their major loss to Seijoh at the Interhigh qualifiers tournament. He definitely saw most of them moping around campus just the day before. As much as Kei was getting used to these teammates now that a few months had passed, and knew they’d have a pretty decent shot at Interhigh, he didn’t really think they could pull off a win against Seijoh when they had their real setter in play. It almost didn’t matter that Kageyama was so talented. Even with the arrogant guy’s blatant attempts at being more of a team player, a decent king, Kei had seen something suspicious from the start: matching royalty with an entangling garden, gleaming on a forearm.

He silently unbuttoned his school uniform, thinking back on their match against Seijoh and ignoring the ruckus Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san we’re creating in the background. He didn’t like to think about the soulmate phenomenon, but Karasuno’s recent match had his head reeling.  _ All that pressure during the match was exhausting. It was definitely coming from them, no matter how hard Sugawara-san tried to mediate it. I don’t know how he thought he could.. it was so intense, plus the King freaked out. It just seems like so much trouble, dealing with all of that, and for what reason? Relationships? Ones that you can have outside of it all anyway? It all just seems like nonsense. Annoying, buzzing nonsense. _

“-wheeeew! And they all just went nuts! It was wild, dude. Craziest soulmate drama I’ve ever seen in the classroom.. and get this, they had been desk partners for like… a whole year, bro.” Tanaka-san was saying and Kei paused with his buttons briefly. It was kind of odd that the guy happened to be talking about soulmates right when he was thinking of the phenomenon as well. 

He glanced around at the others in the small club room subtly. Tanaka-san stood around, already dressed for practice and seemingly happy to loiter, regaling the others with soulmate stories, while Nishinoya-san and Hinata hung on every word. Kageyama was nearly ready for practice, tying his shoes, and clearly not paying attention to anyone. Kei scoffed to himself, reminded of Kageyama’s annoyingly diverting soulmate drama, and moved on in his survey. Apparently, the third-years and some of the second-years were already in the gym since they weren’t in the room too. His eyes finally landed on Tadashi, who was nearly ready to practice as well, tying his shoes like Kageyama. However, he was paused in his actions and gazing at Tanaka-san with rapt attention. Kei grimaced slightly and unconsciously rubbed at his temple for a moment, feeling that radiating thrum tingling around him. He caught the sensation quite often but hadn’t been able to figure out where it was coming from and just made the assumption that it was his tiresome teammates’ endless energy supplies.

Kei peered at his best friend, trying to decipher that glazed-over look. They were very close, sometimes close enough to easily traipse across that line that was never actually drawn by either of them. They had never discussed the soulmate phenomenon, even after Tadashi got his tattoo and they realized they weren’t a match. Kei was avoiding having that conversation because he didn’t know if he really wanted to know how Tadashi felt about it. Ignoring it seemed like the best option for now.

“-room break! I can’t believe I missed that, dude!” Kei tuned back in to hear Nishinoya-san adding to Tanaka-san’s story. 

“Woooow! That’s so awesome! I always thought it’d be so easy to find your soulmate when your tattoo was on your arm, but I guess maybe not?! A whole year?! Wow!” Hinata chirped, eyes the size of planets. 

“Hoooo, not as easy as you’d think! Nope! I mean, check mine out, it’s on my neck right behind my ear see,” Tanaka-san said, twisting around and pointing to his little, red, pierced-heart tattoo, “but I can’t seem to find my match. Not that it matters, because Kiyoko is the only one for me anyway. But still! It’s the principle of the thing!”

“Hahaha! You’re right, you’re right, Kiyoko is supreme. But as for me, I’m just gonna figure it out when it happens and live free in the meantime. Besides, mine’s in a fun, secret spot! Outta sight, outta mind, bro,” Nishinoya-san said while he laughed, then winked at Hinata. 

“Bruh… where is it?!” Tanaka-san asked, blinking at him blankly like he just realized that he hadn’t ever seen his friend's tattoo before.

Nishinoya just grinned and glanced down his own body briefly before turning to Hinata, “where’s yours Shouyou?”

Hinata looked like he was going to come out of his skin at Nishinoya’s answer and he muttered, “whaaaa? Oh! Mine’s on my ankle.”

“Hey! Whatcha guys doing? Chit-chattin’ about tattoos, eh? Well, come on, you’re officially late for practice... Daichi’s gonna get mad if you don’t get to the gym pronto,” Sugawara-san had popped into the clubroom, pleasantly warning them of their timely demise. Kei looked over to their vice-captain, catching his eyes briefly, and nodded politely in acknowledgment. 

He quickly pulled on his practice t-shirt and noticed Kageyama had already left, Tadashi bolting out of the room while tugging his shirt around properly, then Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san following him. Kei sat down to tie his shoes, and glanced up to see Hinata frantically pulling on a sock; his shirt was on backwards. He quickly spied on the shrimp's ankle while it was exposed, curious what it could possibly be and a little amused that it was supposedly in the same place as his own. It caught his eye right away and he stilled, taking it in fully before flicking his eyes away and finishing up the knot on his shoes. Then he brusquely left, making his way to the gym. 

However, there was no mistaking it even if he could escape for the moment. Hinata’s tattoo was one hundred percent a match of his own. It was so obviously discernible with the blindingly bright sun, pale moon, and curiously arranged little stars. The imagery nestled together neatly, creating a colorful cosmic scene that was very pretty.. It was eye-catching with the stark contrast between the vibrant sun, twinkling constellation depicting Gemini, and demure moon; almost a shame the tattoo was hidden beneath socks the majority of the time. The words were somewhat interesting too as they were written in Latin and read: obstinatus, certus, and impetrabilis. They all had a strong-willed sort of connotation to them, which made Kei think that his soulmates would definitely be troublesome; and that maybe he was troublesome himself. He didn’t really think much about the fact that he had two of them, other than it would mean extra effort if he chose to pursue the bond.

Kei finally made it to the gym, realizing that he had kind of unintentionally taken his time and Hinata definitely dashed past him at some point. It was distracting to be so lost in thought on things that weren’t really an immediate problem. There was no way his energetic teammate knew of their shared bond, so there was no real reason to bother panicking about anything.  _ He has absolutely no filter. If he knew, logically he’d say so even if he didn’t mean to. _

Kei picked up a stray volleyball and walked over to Tadashi who was in line to start doing spiking drills.  _ And on top of that, he’s an idiot. He wouldn’t have ever seen my tattoo. There’s basically no chance of him knowing. _

“You alright, Tsukki?” Tadashi asked, turning towards him slightly, but keeping his attention on his other teammates’ spiking. 

“Hm? Yes,” Kei replied easily. He wasn’t necessarily lying. It just wasn't necessary to have a conversation about his discovery.

“Eh? Okay, if you say so,” Tadashi said lightly, glancing at him with his brows furrowed just a smidge. Then it was his turn to run up for a spike and he jogged off. 

A few seconds later, it was Kei’s turn and he started his approach, but his legs felt sluggish and he realized he forgot to stretch and warm up. To make up for his heavy limbs, he increased his speed and jumped, smashing the ball down like usual. He landed back down on that smooth, wooden gym floor and felt his foot slip awkwardly. Straightening up again, he winced slightly before moving out of the way for the next spiker and wandered off to the side of the court. He peered down at his own foot and rolled his ankle a few times to test the mobility, hissing a little bit at the sudden throbbing sensation that shot up his calf muscle.  _ Ah crap. I landed on this wrong...  _

“Tsukishima-kun! You alright there?” Sawamura’s voice called out and Kei looked up to see his captain coming over to him.

“Ah.. yes.. I think I landed wrong on my foot just now,” Kei answered quietly.

“Okay, go sit down and let’s take a look just to check it out, alright?” Sawamura-san instructed and Kei obeyed, walking over to a bench. The pain wasn’t too bad and he could put weight on it at least. He sat down anyway and shucked off his shoe and sock, glancing up to see Sawamura-san joining him along with Shimizu-san, who brought the first aid kit.

“Do you mind if I take a look?” Shimizu-san asked, gesturing mildly at his bare ankle. 

Kei shook his head, “no, please do. Thank you.”

Shimizu-san smiled and nodded, then prodded around his ankle with light pressure, feeling to see if anything was out of alignment or swollen, “looks like you just twisted it a bit, nothing seems broken and it’s not too swollen either. However, you should ice it just in case. I’ll grab you an ice pack.” 

“Thanks,” Kei said quietly, then crossed his hurt ankle over his other knee so he could ice it more easily once he had the pack.

“Well, that’s good! You alright? Kinda unusual for you to get hurt,” Sawamura-san inquired casually.

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. The floor may be a bit slick over there though,” Kei answered politely, tipping his head towards the spot where he’d slipped. Sawamura-san peered at the area Kei indicated and mumbled something to himself before wandering off to investigate with a towel in hand. Shimizu-san appeared again a moment later and handed over an ice pack, then nodded again and went back to recording data on a clipboard while she watched his teammates on the court. 

Kei simply sat and iced his ankle, watching his teammates. His eyes roamed amongst them then got caught on Hinata. Now that the idea was planted in his head, it took root and he decided to take a good, long look at the other. The most obvious thing about Hinata was how much of a shrimp he was followed closely by that blazingly brilliant, wild, orangey hair. Then his natural energy, which was so abundant that it felt like it literally radiated off the guy. Kei squinted at him, suddenly wondering if that was partially due to the soulmate bond in actuality. It probably was. 

He’d been taught through classes in school that the soulmate phenomenon might have an atmospheric sensation to it occasionally, but it was different for everyone and therefore, hard to describe. However, Kei finally connected the dots that Hinata radiated with a sort of vibrating warmth at times. Beforehand, it always went straight to his head, irritatingly, but now that he knew where it was coming from it didn’t seem to pulse in his brain the same way. Out of curiosity, he started to wonder if he would feel it again when the subject of his thoughts abruptly began walking towards him, followed closely by Kageyama and Tadashi. 

“Uwaah! Who chopped down the beanstalk?!” Hinata said brightly, grinning at his little jab, but there seemed to be slight concern there too along with that warm, radiating thrum. It seemed gentle this time like someone had turned down the knob on the oven to low.

Tadashi snickered a bit, “what happened, Tsukki?”

“Just landed wrong on my foot, it’s fine,” Kei replied blandly, shifting his eyes from Hinata to Tadashi. He adjusted the ice pack a little distractedly, feeling it getting too chilly after being on the same spot for too long.

“So, um, Tsu-Tsukishima..san,” Hinata started to stammer out, “y’know how we have that Tokyo training camp comin’ up and, uh, exams too…”

“Yes?” Kei answered, shifting his gaze back to the shrimp suspiciously, “what about it?”

“Tsukishima, please.. will you tutor me and Kageyama so that we don’t fail and miss this awesome opportunity to go to Tokyo! I’m totally gonna fail without help! I have no idea what’s going on in my math class right now!” Hinata rambled out quickly, nervously.

“Oh-ho? No way,” Kei replied haughtily, and glanced over at Kageyama who was staring death-rays at the floor, wordlessly, “besides, why are you asking for him too?”

“Aww c’mon!” Hinata squawked, then elbowed Kageyama in the side, none too nicely, “you ask too, Bakayama! Do you wanna go to Tokyo or not?!”

Kageyama scoffed, but then he bowed slightly towards Kei, “please, Tsukishima, tutor me for this exam?”

Kei scowled at them and leaned back on his hands on the bench, taking up a more casual, thoughtful posture while he contemplated if it was worth all the trouble. There was no doubt that this would turn into trouble somehow.

“Ah, just help them a little, Tsukki! Maybe like, ten minutes before practice or something?” Tadashi put in, smiling at him. Kei rolled his eyes, wondering why Tadashi would be nudging him along to do this; but his friend always seemed to take up the slack that Kei himself was dragging in some way. He decided that Tadashi must think that this request was important somehow even though he couldn’t see why.

“Fine. Just a little before practice,” Kei gave in, reluctantly.

“Awwright! Thanks, Tsukishima! I’m totally pumped to go to Tokyo! I’ll study super hard, just you watch!” Hinata exclaimed happily, zipping around like a little hummingbird in his excitement. Kei hung his head back for a moment, already exhausted by the prospect.


	4. HS

Shouyou grunted, standing on his bike while he peddled the last little bit up the hill to his house. He lived about a half an hour bike ride up a mountain away from his school but didn’t usually mind the trek. He braked and parked his bike outside his house, taking in a few slow breaths to even out his breathing from the exertion. It was like he made it home in record time today, not even remembering the journey in the slightest.

It was still a bit of a shock, seeing Tsukishima’s tattoo at practice just an hour before. Shouyou knew since that first three-on-three game that they were a match based on that persistent energy alone, but it was still shocking to see proof. It was like he suddenly got confirmation that the abominable snowman was real. As much as he would like to continue denying the truth about the whole situation, there was definitely no mistaking what he saw on Tsukishima’s bare, slender ankle. He thought about those matching shapes and colors, and how strange it was to see something so unique yet familiar be on someone else’s skin.  _ It was definitely the same.. and he definitely didn’t know it was exposed either.. and he isn’t really acting any different than his normal, salty self. So, he doesn’t know we match then? _

“Shou!” A happy voice trilled through the screen door to his house, then a moment later his little sister came barreling out. She tackled him in a tight hug and he squeezed her back warmly.

“Hey, Nacchan! How was school today?” Shouyou asked, giving her a final squeeze before letting go and leading them inside. He took off his shoes and wandered to the kitchen, seeing Natsu bouncing around him along the way. 

“It was good! Though Mika-chan broke like, three of my crayons during this art project we were doing.. she’s so strong! I kinda wanna arm wrestle her now.. do ya think she’d accept a challenge?!” Natsu rattled off rapidly, looking excited by her idea.

“Haha! Probably! She’s gotta hold ‘em more gently.. you should tell her that..” Shouyou replied, smiling, but it fell a little after a second while he looked through the fridge for some cold tea, “hey, is mom home yet?”

“Nope, she said she’ll be back around nine tonight,” Natsu answered, and Shouyou flitted his eyes back at her briefly as she asked, “what’s wrong, Niichan?”

Shouyou finally found the bottle he was looking for and snagged it, closed the fridge, and gave Natsu his full attention, “hnn.. nothing really. Do you want me to make you some omurice, then?”

“Yes! Thanks!” Natsu chirped, “but really, what’s wrong? Was practice extra mega hard today or somethin’?”

“No, it was fine. I spiked lots of balls!” Shouyou smiled brightly, then started moving around the kitchen to make dinner for them. He frowned again, irritated at himself for misremembering his mom’s new work schedule. She had started working late some nights after dropping Natsu off at home after school. Shouyou didn’t mind making dinner for them even if it was just simple meals, but he couldn’t prepare them as well as his mom could; he’d need to make Natsu’s lunch for tomorrow now too.  _ Ah, I don’t want mom to have to come home and make lunches for us so late..did her schedule change again? I thought she didn’t have a shift tonight…  _

“That’s great! I bet I could spike too, y’know! I always can in gym class anyway. But, Niichan… tell meeee, what’s goin’ on? You’re like way pppsshhhhaaaa right now.” Natsu badgered again, clearly on a mission.

“Hmm. Yeah, maybe. So, remember how I mentioned that I thought I found one of my soulmates earlier this year? Y’know, that guy on my team?” Shouyou said, giving in to her persistence. He already told her about everything involving the volleyball club anyway since they were so close. She was really perceptive for a nine-year-old anyhow and stubborn to boot. 

“Yep! All the.. whatcha call it? Humming?” Natsu nodded gleefully.

Shouyou poured the egg mixture into the hot pan to start making the omelets then answered, “yeah, buzzing... it’s hard to explain. You’ll probably feel it someday after you get your tattoo… but anyway, I saw his tattoo today.”

“Oooohhhh, so it really is him then?” Natsu shouted, excited, “who is he again?! I wanna see a picture!”

“Ahhh, hold on,” Shouyou said, waving a hand at her to ‘wait’ and finished up the omelets. He slid them over the rice and squirted some ketchup on top, then brought them over to the kitchen table. Natsu was waiting patiently, sitting at the table, and kicking her feet in the chair back and forth idly. The sight made Shouyou smile as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through some team photos. He found one of all of the first-years standing together outside the Sendai gymnasium and handed her the phone. She took it eagerly and peered at the screen. 

“It’s, uh, that one,” Shouyou said, tapping the screen with a finger, then he sat down in his own chair in front of his plate. 

“Uwaaah?!” Natsu yelped in awe, “he’s like a prince! You’re gonna marry a prince, Niichan! Woooow! I’m totally gonna tell Mika-chan allll about this and then we’ll see what she has to say about soulmates, hmph!”

“Huh?! Prince?! M-Marry?!” Shouyou yelped back, surprised at his sister’s wild leap, “whoa whoa whoa, slow down a sec Nacchan! For starters, we’re barely even friends, me and this guy. He totally hates me. Besides, not everyone just marries their soulmate just ‘cause they found them! I mean, what does that even end up with? Look at mom and dad!... ah.. anyway, what are you braggin’ to Mika-chan for? What’s she saying about it? You should make your own decisions about things, Nacchan, and not just go with whatever the bossy kid says.”

Natsu tossed Shouyou’s phone onto the table and crossed her arms, pouting, “mom and dad are happy when he’s here, y’know!.. and Mika-chan said it’s all make-believe, all the stuff you feel and all that and her parents told her she shouldn’t bother with it.”

“Oh. Listen, Natsu, it’s real… but you still gotta make up your own mind about all of it, okay? It’s your choice in the end,” Shouyou replied, deflating a bit with guilt about slipping up by saying something about their parents’ relationship, “My choice is to play volleyball, professionally, forever, for example.”

“Niiiiichan… you can’t marry a volleyball,” Natsu remarked, grinning. Then she rolled her eyes and started ravenously stuffing her face full of omurice.

While the fact that he couldn’t marry a sport was true, it still didn’t mean he had to pursue his soulmates either. He had originally chosen not to say anything to Tsukishima because the latter clearly despised him. However, after spending a few months thinking about it and now after discovering that it really was Tsukishima like he thought, he wondered if that was the only reason. He always admired people for sticking it out and searching for their soulmates because it reminded him of his parents. Although, with how their relationship was now, he was becoming a little disillusioned to the whole deal; like a fairytale gone sideways.  _ Maybe it would just be for the best to focus on volleyball like I want, and maybe wait for Tsukishima to figure it out for himself. Or maybe wait until he at least likes me a little bit, at least be friends? Or maybe wait until I figure out who the other one is too? Argh! It’s just too much to think about!  _

Shouyou sighed and started on his dinner too, realizing that he had spaced out and Natsu was almost done already.

“Hey, Niichan, what do you think your other one is like? Also.. I just don’t see how the prince could hate you? What didja do to him?” Natsu asked, looking puzzled.

“Ahh.. I don’t know… it’s all kinda surprising and none of it seems to make sense at first. So I couldn’t even guess if I wanted to…” Shouyou replied, thinking of ways to explain the situation to a person who was too young to really be thinking about it, “And don’t worry about the one on my team, he gets to make his own choices too, right?”

Natsu pulled a face, “ehhh… well I think you should be more like a brave knight and go win over the prince, but whatever.” 

Shouyou raised his eyebrows at her in surprise, then laughed brightly.  _ Brave knight?! What fairytale is this?!.. and I thought you were into magical girl stories right now. Fairytales don’t always go like you’d think. _


	5. TK

Kei glanced across the outdoor table at Tadashi, catching his eyes, then subtly shifted them towards Kageyama. Tadashi gazed back curiously, then followed his pointed look, spying on Kageyama as well. Kei smirked slightly as Tadashi’s eyebrows shot up and he covered his mouth to hide a laugh. The surly setter was very nearly falling asleep on his homework, his head hidden and buried in his arms. Kei rolled his eyes and brought his attention back to Hinata for a moment, seeing that the latter had just finished a math problem.

“Annnd there! Is that right?” The shrimp asked but didn’t look even remotely confident. 

“Hm… let me see,” Kei said and scrutinized the problem. They were studying for what seemed like the zillionth time since Hinata had asked a few weeks ago. Kei only agreed to ten minutes before practice, but that had somehow expanded into longer and longer amounts of time until it finally morphed into an after practice sort of study group. He was surprised to discover that while Hinata and Kageyama were definitely volleyball obsessed morons, Kageyama could do things if he was motivated in the right way, and Hinata put in copious amounts of effort to improve; almost spitefully when he didn’t understand something. Although they had enlisted the help of their new team manager, Yachi-san, who had joined the volleyball club very recently, Kei still felt oddly compelled to continue tutoring them. It was probably a secret desire to see if all his time and efforts would amount to anything; as in, tutoring the freak-duo until the Tokyo training camp to see if they actually made it there or not based on their exam scores. That’s how he found himself stuck between the pair of idiots on an outdoor picnic table, helping them study. At least Tadashi and Yachi-san were sitting across from them, bringing some balance and Kei didn’t necessarily feel like he was drowning in stupidity like he would have been in their absence. He finished checking over Hinata’s work and found that it was actually correct for once.

“Yes, this one's fine. Do the next three problems and then we’ll go through them again. They all use the same formula,” Kei said mildly. 

Kageyama sat up from his slumped posture where he was obviously just avoiding homework by hiding his head in his arms and not actually sleeping. Kei noticed that the sleeves of his club jacket were tugged up and most of his tattoo was exposed; the little royalty symbols and flowers winking cheekily at the world.  _ So angsty. I wish you’d just keep it to yourself and not share all that drama, intentional or not...Especially on the court.. what a headache. This is why the soulmate phenomenon can be so annoying… and the shrimp over here is thrumming up a storm too. Just finish your homework so we can move on with our lives. At least you’re still as clueless as ever. _

“So, the King resurfaces from the depths of his despair,” Kei remarked quietly, wondering how far he could push him, feeling particularly aggrieved today.

“Yeah, whatever, don’t call me that.” The setter responded lazily, seemingly unoffended.

“Or maybe you were daydreaming of taking a stroll in the proverbial garden,” Kei commented even more quietly, moving his eyes to Kageyama’s forearm briefly. The latter followed his gaze then looked back up into Kei’s face with a somewhat confused expression and pink tinted cheeks. 

Kei was surprised for a moment to see such an innocently charming expression on the other’s face, but it was ruined when he just gaped back vacantly, “Huh?” 

“Eloquent as always. Anyway, I’ve been wanting to ask you..” Kei said, gazing back at Kageyama curiously as he was actually interested to know if the setter would resolve things with his soulmates before their next tournament. It really was creating a ton of tension on the court. Kei decided at that moment that he should just ask and see what answer he got, “Have you approached him yet?”

Kageyama just stared back, wide-eyed, and mouth falling open ever so slightly again as if just the right button had been pushed. The stilled, loaded pause was starting to feel heady and Kei knew the others at the table were listening in now too since they were so quiet. He couldn't blame them and idly wondered if they felt all the annoying, distracting tension as well.

The king closed his mouth and looked back to his work, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Kei hummed liltingly in response, crossed his arms, and turned his body a little more towards the guy, knowing that he’d have to dig in his heels to get answers if Kageyama was going to flat-out lie, “Don’t bother pretending. I’ve seen them all. I’m just curious to know how it’ll affect the spring tournament. From what I can tell, you haven’t told him yet. Do you think he knows?”

“It’s really none of your business, but no, I haven’t talked to him. Suga-san hasn’t either. It’s a tricky situation that will ultimately affect more than going to nationals for me. I have no idea if he knows, but he’s extremely perceptive and analytical, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he figures it out somehow even though we’ve always been covered up,” Kageyama answered suddenly, folding his own arms across his chest and turning towards Kei in challenge. Kei peered back at him in silence for a second while he thought about this confession, stunned by the blunt honesty.  _ Oh? So that was the right button. You actually care about the soulmate phenomenon?! That’s a bit of a shocker. I wonder if all the drama is because one person in the bond doesn’t know? But it doesn’t seem like the King is lying about Oikawa’s skills or personality. So, is it avoidance that’s causing the drama then? _

Then he relaxed his arms and leaned more casually on the table, “I see.”

His majesty kept up his defensive posture like he didn’t believe that Kei was done needling him. However, Kei just continued to gaze at the latter, deciding if he wanted to push a little more or not when he noticed Hinata starting to fidget in the stillness. The shrimp leaned his whole body over his work on the table and broke the silence, “K-Kageyama... What is Tsukki talking about? You and Suga-san are okay, right?”

Kageyama sighed and relaxed a bit, looking exhausted, and rubbed his hands down his face before answering, “Yes, idiot, we’re fine. I just don’t want to push things. He’s talking about our third soulmate.” 

“Y-you and Sugawara-san are s-soulmates, and you have another that you know b-but haven’t talked to yet?!” Yachi-san gasped in surprise, staring at Kageyama. She obviously had no idea about any of this soulmate drama since she just joined the club a few weeks ago. Kei glanced at her, then shifted his attention to Tadashi, who also wore a look of mild shock.  _ Ah, that’s right, we never talk about soulmates so I never mentioned anything about our teammates’ tattoos or all that weird energy during the Interhigh match against Seijoh. Crap, I bet that’s going to come back around to bite me in the ass.  _

“Yes, Yachi-san. Suga-san and I are dating, actually. But we haven’t exactly made an announcement or anything like that. The other in our bond is... problematic.”  _ Problematic?! That’s the most docile thing I’ve ever heard you spout about an opponent! How ridiculous! _

Kei couldn’t help it and he laughed at the King’s gentle audacity at referring to Oikawa as merely problematic. The grumpy guy snapped his attention to the laughter and glared. Kei needed a few more seconds to wipe the glee off his face after that great one-liner and just kept chuckling to himself in his disbelief, ignoring Kageyama’s murderous scowl.

“Sorry, Kageyama,” Tadashi chimed in, gaining Kageyama’s attention, “That’s wonderful. That you’ve met your soulmates and you’re with one of them already. I’m a bit jealous, to be honest... can-can you tell us who the other is? The rest of us don’t know...” and he gave Kei a quick questioning glance. Kei obviously wasn’t about to confirm or deny any superfluous information to his best friend now, and just shrugged offhandedly.  _ Don’t look at me like that, I thought we both agreed it wasn’t important. But you’re jealous, then? I’m a little surprised, Tadashi… what is it that you really want? It’s hard to tell since you just go along with whatever is happening around you so fluidly. Now I kind of want to know. Am I keeping you from something that you actually want that I can’t even remotely begin to give you? _

“I...guess so...” Kageyama tilted his head slightly, looking skeptical, “It’s Oikawa-san, from Seijoh.”

“The Great King?!” Hinata nearly shrieked, flying off his seat and ending up on the table, kneeling on all fours and ruffling the papers everywhere. He stared into Kageyama’s startled face looking completely aghast. 

Kei rolled his eyes at Hinata and used a hand to lightly shove him back off the table, then turned back to the king, saying sarcastically, “Yes, yes, it’s very surprising. The guy clearly doesn’t flaunt his body around publicly or appear in local volleyball magazines gushing about his personal interests or anything like that.”

Kageyama looked back at him blankly, “Oh. When you put it like that, it does seem kind of obvious... especially if you’re on our team or pay attention to tattoos...”

“Oh hey Kageyama, don’t worry about that. I didn’t realize it until now, and neither did Hinata. It’s not as obvious as Tsukki is making it seem.” Tadashi said gently then glanced over at Kei admonishingly. Kei scoffed and raised his hands in placating surrender.  _ It's pretty obvious. _

“Whatever. Listen, I only brought it up in the first place because of the pressure during the inter-high match. It was smothering and I’d rather not play in that atmosphere again. I think you should confront him about it. Besides, I’m going to go out on a limb and consider your sanity for a second here, don’t die of shock but.. holding this kind of secret back, especially if there’s a chance everyone involved knows and are avoiding it, will drive you crazy. You’ll make rash decisions and lose your cool, your highness. Let’s try to keep the drama off the court, okay?” Kei said blandly, attempting to keep his tone even. It was a little challenging with how frustrated he was growing at the situation. He knew he was being hypocritical, but at least the shrimp didn’t know of their shared bond.

Hinata squawked a sound of disgruntled protest and started roughly shoving Kei with one hand while gesturing wildly with the other, “what?! Tsukki! How can you say those things to Bakayama when he’s already working on figuring it out?! What if it all just gets worse after talking to him? The Great King is super scary, y’know? Doesn't that just make it worse, like, thinking about it all the time?! Besides, you know he’s just gonna focus like crazy on volleyball… plus Suga-san will help! And! You can always just use the buzz to get pumped up and we can win against the Great King! We’re totally gonna do it this time!”

Kei frowned and peered at Hinata while he ranted, attempting to sort out the rambling to determine what the latter was actually saying. He noticed out of his periphery that Tadashi and Yachi-san were gazing at him in concern as well. But he seriously didn’t think he had said anything that was too harsh or untrue. He could have said worse, probably.

Kageyama shook Kei’s focus from trying to sift through Hinata’s words as he said cooly, “I’ll think about it, okay? Thanks for your concern.” Then he mumbled quietly, only loud enough for Kei to hear, “maybe you should worry about your own soulmate being able to put up with your bad personality...”

“Oh, trust me, I am,” Kei replied even more quietly. There was no way Kageyama knew of his soulmate bond with Hinata and he had obviously just said that as a blanket statement about Kei’s attitude in general, but it was still annoying.  _ Of course it would be hard for me to accept and pursue a soulmate bond.. that’s why I’m trying not to care. But I don’t need his majesty poking his royal nose into it either. I didn’t think he would bother though…  _

Kei watched Kageyama grimace then turn his attention back to his homework, shutting everything else out again. He rolled his eyes and realized that Hinata was still ranting next to him, mostly to Tadashi and Yachi-san, “-and it’s important to make your own choices, but like, soulmates are something that doesn’t just go away. But you don’t hafta go after it though, right? Isn’t it better if the people involved in the bond come to their own decisions? What do you guys think about that? Are your parents soulmates? If Bakayama, the social idiot, can figure it out, then it must be doable, right? What would you guys do? I-uh… I’ve only heard of it being a lifelong thing…”

“Hinata, what on earth are you talking about?” Tadashi asked, looking concerned.

“Ah! Sorry, sorry, it’s.. um, my parents. They’re soulmates, but it’s been kinda.. um.. nevermind, really. So, I was talking to my sister about it but that’s even harder because she’s so little. How should I talk to her about it? You guys don’t have younger siblings do you?” Hinata chirped, but he seemed exceptionally scatterbrained with this topic and Kei just gazed at him curiously.

“Oh, sorry, Hinata, I-I don’t have any siblings… is everything okay?” Tadashi asked, looking a little bewildered, Yachi-san had a similar expression and Kei frowned again. He had an older brother, but that was another area he didn’t want to discuss so he swiftly tugged his headphones up around his ears and started up a playlist to avoid being interrogated by the others. He wouldn’t know what to tell Hinata anyway and he definitely wanted to stay away from any topic that was related to soulmates.

He faintly heard the three talking quietly, but he couldn’t make out the conversation anymore with his music loudly blurring the existence of the outside world around him. A few minutes later, he heard someone call out for Kageyama, and peered up to see Sugawara-san approaching their table. Kei somewhat heard their light conversation as Sugawara-san chatted with Tadashi, Hinata, and Yachi-san while Kageyama roughly shoved his study materials back into his bag, clearly getting ready to bail. 

Kageyama caught Kei’s eyes for a moment and gave him a brief nod, then walked around the table to Sugawara-san. Kei watched with narrowed eyes as the king smoothed his hand across his boyfriend’s shoulders and said something to the group, waving awkwardly. They both casually wandered off right after, leaving Kei, Hinata, Tadashi, and Yachi-san staring after them for a beat. It was bizarre to see Kageyama act normal and affectionate for a millisecond; even more so since Kei witnessed the whole exchange without a sound other than the American rock music creating a strange kind of backdrop to their departure. 

Kei closed his eyes, just taking in the guitar riff when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He opened his eyes again and glanced over to Hinata in question while lifting a hand to hold one side of his headphones off his ear.

“Uh.. I finished those math problems… can you take a look, please?” Hinata said quietly, and he looked oddly deflated at the moment like he had fizzled out.

“Yeah, sure,” Kei replied, then lazily snagged his paper and checked out the work, “it’s all correct. Is this the last you have for this week?”

“I.. um.. no, there’s one more set of problems,” Hinata mumbled. Kei glanced around the littered sheets of paper and found the blank one, snatching it up. He scribbled down the appropriate formula on the top of the page before sliding it back in front of Hinata. 

“Okay, use this here. Do you remember how it works? Just plug in the information and calculate, got it?”

“O-okay. Thanks…” Hinata said quietly, way too muted. Kei eyed him suspiciously, thinking for a moment that the other was about to say something else, but he didn’t and just brought his attention back to the assignment.  _ He drives me crazy. I just don’t understand this guy. I feel like I'd have to pick him apart for years before I could even scratch the surface of what could possibly go on inside his head. _

The shrimp finished up the work pretty quickly and Kei gave it one more once over before they all realized how late it was getting and left the benches. They walked Yachi-san to the bus stop, then Hinata hopped on his bike and rode away towards the mountain.

Kei walked along with Tadashi towards their houses, which were just a little ways away from each other, listening to his headphones. Seemingly out of nowhere, Tadashi snagged his hand and Kei clasped it back, looking over his shoulder at Tadashi in question. He had a confused, contemplative look splashed across his face. Obviously, something was bothering him, so Kei tugged one side of his headphones off and asked, “what?”

“...umm,” Tadashi started, then paused, looking nervous, uncertain. Kei saw nervous expressions on his best friend’s face all the time, but they usually weren’t directed at him. He waited a beat or two, to give Tadashi a chance to collect his thoughts. However, it seemed like that train of thought had been lost with Tadashi’s continued silence, so Kei began to put his headphones back on. 

Tadashi looked alarmed, then he piped up again, “why.. why didn’t you tell me?” 

Kei paused for a second, thinking of what Tadashi was talking about specifically.  _ Ah.. He’s caught up in the soulmate drama now. Isn’t it obvious why we don’t talk about it? _

He carefully slid the headphones down off his head, letting them hang around his neck, and looked back at Tadashi, “I didn’t think you’d want to talk about it, since we don’t match. Besides, the King sure does seem to have his hands tied up with all of that. Who’d want to get involved? What a mess.”

“B-but.. when did you find out about it? If you knew before the Interhigh tournament and knew all of that buzz was coming from them, why didn’t you say?” Tadashi stammered out, looking a little hurt. Kei didn’t want to damage their friendship, but it was a slippery slope at times with their closeness and apparently, differing opinions on the soulmate phenomenon. He was starting to get the impression that they needed to settle on what they wanted to be for each other exactly. Maybe it was nearly time for that line to be drawn, wherever it ended up. 

He thought he knew what Tadashi wanted simply based on knowing the other so long and spending so much time together, however, he could tell their outlooks were starting to become different. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but Tadashi had always been dependent on their friendship in lots of different ways. Kei never had to consider before what would need to be done when the time came that Tadashi would want to branch out of their little treehouse-club of a friendship they both hid in so successfully. 

“Hmm.. why indeed,” Kei replied, blandly, wanting Tadashi to figure it out without saying, “I don’t want to talk about soulmate bullshit.”

“Soulmate bullshit?” Tadashi repeated, “I know you’re not a fan of all of it.. but.. umm.. that’s a bit harsher towards it than you’ve been before, Tsukki..”

Kei couldn’t help but push it and looked back at Tadashi directly into his eyes before saying, “it’s just more of the same bullshit, so who cares? We can still do what we want, right? So what does any of that matter? I really loathe having to deal with others’ ridiculous drama about it though. For fuck’s sake, that match was nearly intolerable. I felt like I was drowning in it. They better sort out their shit or at least keep it out of club, else I’m quitting.” He knew he was being overly dramatic, but this was the best way to find out what Tadashi thought without him defaulting back to being dependently agreeable.

“Ehh?! You wouldn’t, Tsukki!” Tadashi exclaimed a little frantically, then said quietly, “now who’s being dramatic?” 

Kei rolled his eyes at that agreeable nature but smiled to himself after he started walking away, still holding Tadashi’s hand.  _ Well, at least he called me out on it. Maybe he is ready to become more assertive and less dependent on this murky relationship.  _

“Tsukki..” Tadashi called out as they walked along comfortably.

“Hm?” 

“You found one, didn’t you?” He asked, nearly a whisper, but Kei heard it anyway. 

“Hm,” Kei hummed in response, lazily deflecting. He didn’t want to admit to anything. It would mean that he would be forced to confront everything directly because Tadashi wouldn’t just let him stew on it all by himself as he wanted. 

Tadashi would slowly nag him with kindness and sound reasoning until Kei broke and came to terms with everything. It was something that he wasn’t prepared to do. He still wanted to take his time and assess the situation for himself to see if all the hassle would be worth it in the end. Besides, Hinata was completely feral from what he could tell and they were such different people that it would probably take a while to adjust to the idea of being with someone like that; not to mention he wasn’t even remotely sold on the idea of the soulmate phenomenon in the first place.

What felt like only a moment later, they made it to Tadashi’s house and Kei peered at his face. The latter was visibly fraught with emotions, clearly stuck waffling around inside his head about things Kei could only guess at. Tadashi had always been the worrying type. Kei frowned slightly and wrapped him up in a tight hug, whispering in his ear in an attempt to bring him out of it, “Don’t worry about it. See you tomorrow.”

He let go and leaned back to look Tadashi in the face again for a second before he lightly pressed their lips together in a brief kiss. He pulled away, then walked away, hoping it would be enough to shake his best friend free of those noticeably dizzying thoughts that lit up his expressions like a never-ending Ferris wheel ride.  _ He doesn’t need to worry about it. But I think… maybe he needs to be free of whatever it is we’re doing. I’m definitely standing in his way. He has way more potential that he could actualize if he moves forward and doesn’t attach himself to me and my problems. _


	6. HS

Shouyou panted shallowly, taking a quick breather on the court before the next rally. They were in the middle of a practice match against Nekoma at the Tokyo training camp and his freak-closed-eyed-quick attack with Kageyama was just completely blocked out by Lev. Nekoma’s newest player was crazy tall, at least six-four, and fast since he was able to use his height and speed to block the freak-quick attack so easily.

With all of the excitement of the camp, the days and practice matches seemed like a bit of a blur to Shouyou, but they had successfully used the quick attack during their last practice match against Shinzen. However, apparently, it wouldn’t work as easily against Nekoma. Shouyou brooded over the fact that the quick attack had also been eventually stopped by Seijoh as well. It was the only thing really keeping him on the court as a starting player because it was so powerful and shocking when it landed successfully. It usually took a while for opponents to catch it. But now that he had a taste of what it was like to play against teams who could easily adapt, Shouyou knew that the quick attack wouldn’t be enough to keep him on the court anymore. He needed to adapt too and find a new way to fight, stay in the game, and fly.  _ Nekoma with Lev now too, they’re so good! Really, really good! If I don’t get better myself, I’ll never be able to beat them. _

The next ball was barely bumped by Kageyama, then Sawamura-san got under it for a save and sent it left. Shouyou was completely absorbed in watching its trajectory, instinctually sprinting and flinging himself into the air after it. A second later, he collided with something large and firm which sent him flying backwards and he fell, landing hard on his back from the force, “bwah?!”

Asahi-san landed back down too and started rambling very quickly, “ohmygod, ohmygod! A-a-are you o-okay?!”

“Ah! I’m so sorry!” Shouyou shouted, springing up on his knees. He blinked and replayed what had just happened in his mind. Gasping at the full realization, he was completely stricken that he had jumped at the same ball that Asahi-san was going for as well, and he bowed deeply to his senpai, “I totally forgot to pay attention and I was only looking at the ball! I’m sorry! Really sorry! A-are you okay?!”

“Yeah, I’m okay…” Asahi-san said, still looking alarmed, and crouching down to help him up. 

Sawamura-san had jogged over too and checked in, “Hinata! Are you alright?” 

“I’m totally fine, yeah!” Shouyou squeaked. It was pretty lucky that he didn’t land harder than he did though considering how high he was in the air and how harshly he slammed into Asahi-san.

“Yo, be careful, bros..” Tanaka-san put in, looking incredulously at them.

“Yeah, whichever way you cut it, Shouyou’s gonna be the one who goes flying,” Noya-san added, grinning.

“I’m sorry!” Shouyou shouted again.

“Hinata, you idiot!” Kageyama griped, putting his hands on his hips and glaring.

“Hinata! You idiot! Keep your eyes open! Why do you think we tell you to communicate so much?!” Coach Ukai scolded too. 

Shouyou winced then bowed towards him, “yes, Coach.”

He knew it was bad that he had gone after the ball so blindly when it should have been clear that it was Asahi-san’s hit. But he just got so caught up in the feeling of chasing after it with all his might. The team went back to their positions to get ready for the next serve and Shouyou stewed over his progress on the court.  _ How can I get better with my eyes closed?  _

“Hey, Kageyama,” Shouyou called out as the setter was passing him.

“Yeah?”

“About the quick set… the one that’s all ‘zip’,” Shouyou said to him seriously, “I’m done. I’m not closing my eyes anymore.” He was immediately met with various shocked looks from his teammates, who had apparently heard him too. 

Kageyama furrowed his brows and growled out, “you  _ what?” _

Shouyou squeaked at the gruff, angry tone, but frowned and continued anyway, “I-It isn’t good enough the way it is now… a quick set where I’m just being  _ allowed _ to hit the ball isn’t good enough.”

“We tried that before and it didn’t work. That’s why you learned how to do a regular quick, remember?” Kageyama said plainly, “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but we can talk about it later. However, if you insist on trying to do something right now then I have no intention of putting the ball up for a hitter who I know is just going to miss.” Then the guy walked away to his position and the whistle blew, signaling the next serve. 

They finished the rest of the game and lost, uneventfully. Shouyou didn’t mean to create a problem, but he could tell that his teammates seemed really on edge.  _ We’re not going to improve like this though. At least, I won’t. I’ll just be constantly stopped by better players… and then there would be no point in me being on the court. _

A little later on during a break, Shouyou found himself outside the gym talking with Sugawara-san and Kageyama about using the freak-quick without closing his eyes like the setter said they could. Shouyou knew that despite all of his nasty, blunt, and sometimes harassing commentary, Kageyama was actually really accommodating on the court for his teammates. 

“Um! I think it’s at least worth a try. I mean, the last time we played Nekoma, you two managed to put together a normal quick on the fly, right?” Sugawara-san said placatingly with his hands hovering in the air, “barely though…”

“Back then I only did it because a normal quick had a possible chance of working. Plus, we didn’t have any other way to fight back,” Kageyama said calmly, then looked to Shouyou.  _ But we can’t have only one way to fight back! … and we’re coming up against more and more players that can stop us too. And.. when I’m blocked, it’s like it’s over before I even know it… there just has to be more that I can do. _

“In that last rally against Seijoh we lost before I even realized it,” Shouyou said, looking back at him with a small frown, “when I opened my eyes, the ball was already behind me hitting the floor. I was the one who made us lose that rally, but you came to me and apologized. I hated that. Now, I want to do everything I can to keep fighting in the air up until the very last second.”

“Well, during our game with Seijoh, I started to understand why a setter’s real job is to get one hundred percent out of all their hitters. That quick set is your greatest weapon…and if we want to make it work, being off by even just a hair is too far off. For that quick set to work, your input is completely unnecessary.” Kageyama relayed calmly, then turned around and walked back into the gym. Shouyou stared after him, his frown deepening.  _ I know that. But if I could just open my eyes and see, we could probably do so much more.  _

He heard Sugawara-san sigh heavily and his senpai turned to look at him with a small grimace while rubbing his own neck lightly, “sorry, Hinata. After listening to Tobio’s reasoning as a fellow setter, I think I have to agree with him on this one. That quick set is already impressive. Leaving that at the core of our offense while polishing other plays seems best right now.”

Shouyou’s eyes widened in dismay at those words and he found himself frowning even further. It was hard to hear that two setters didn’t think he could figure out how to improve his quick attack while his eyes were open. 

A whistle from inside the gym sounded and Sugawara-san said lightly, “Ah, sounds like the Ubugawa versus Shinzen game is over. The next set will start soon.”

“That goes for me too. I’m with Sugawara,” Coach Ukai suddenly popped out from around the corner by the gym door. 

“Coach Ukai!” Sugawara-san greeted, surprised. 

“There’s nothing wrong with you wanting to contribute while in the air. That’s fine. It’s just the freak quick that hinges on a fraction of a second,” Coach Ukai said to Shouyou, “honestly, trying to do something in that split second would be  _ really _ difficult.”

“But,” Shouyou argued lightly, wanting them to understand where he was coming from at least, “on days when things are going well… I can see things up there. It’s like everything is moving in slow motion.”

“Yeah, there are some times when a hitter can clearly see the blockers…” Coach Ukai said, trailing off a bit.

“.. and during our practice match with Seijoh, that last rally at the end, I saw the Great King- I mean, Oikawa-san’s face. I could see his eyes,” Shouyou persisted.

“Oh, you mean you had that impression?” Coach asked, but Shouyou was stuck thinking back on all the times he could remember clearly seeing the view from above the net so easily.

“.. and even during the three on three when I did that quick for the first time. I could see the scenery on the other side. I saw the view from the top… Tsukishima was coming from the right.. his hand reaching so close to the ball… and Sawamura-san was shifting positions, getting ready to try a dig.” 

Coach Ukai peered at him for a second, a little skeptically, “right, you’re saying that’s the impression you got…”

Shouyou stared back at his coach, his mind reeling while he thought about all those crystal clear views he saw from over the net while he was mid-air.

“The set is starting!” Sawamura-san’s voice rang out from the gym doorway, getting their attention. Shouyou snapped out of his reverie and jogged back into the gym with Sugawara-san. He was about to take his place on the court when Coach Ukai suddenly called out, “Narita, sub in for Hinata.” The second-year looked dumbfounded for a split second but agreed as Coach walked over to Shouyou.

“The freak quick you and Kageyama have is impressive enough. But if it’s like you say and you think there’s some way to improve it… I think I’d like to see that,” Coach Ukai said seriously, then smacked the top of his own head in exasperation, “not that I have any clue how to make that happen. But I can guess that you’ll probably have to quit that ‘he’ll let me hit it’ feeling you've built up first. So no more game time for you today. Sit it out on the sidelines.”

“Awwww!” Shouyou whined, happy that Coach Ukai finally believed him but bummed that he wasn’t allowed to play. It felt like a bittersweet victory. He would just have to sit and watch his teammates for the rest of the day, but maybe it would be a good opportunity to watch them in action.

It was like a switch was flicked and everyone on the team started buzzing around like crazy making adjustments to their play style, or learning awesome new moves. Shouyou could very clearly see all the efforts, with the exception of one single person whom he was keeping tabs on in the back of his mind; Tsukishima. He still hadn’t figured out a solid approach for dealing with him in the slightest. He was so prickly and Shouyou was still convinced that the guy really, really didn’t like him very much at all.

Later on in the evening, Shouyou walked along the corridor on his way to the bathroom before bed. He had spent a large amount of the afternoon after being benched mulling over different ideas he could try to get to know the beanpole better, and found himself fully distracted by the same thing now. Lost in thought, he abruptly turned the corner and smacked right into someone. The sudden impact sent him flying, stumbling backwards, but a hand caught his arm and prevented him from careening into the ground, “uwaah!”

“Watch it, shrimp!” 

“Bwah! Sorry!” Shouyou yelped, then righted himself and focused on the victim of his daze. He blinked, gaping dumbly at Tsukishima for a moment before apologizing again, “ahh! Sorry, Tsukki! I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going..”

“Whatever, idiot. You know, you can slow down and walk at a normal human pace, right? Or was there a race to the toilet?” Tsukishima snarked quietly, inspecting and swiping a hand across his own shirt like it had gotten something on it in their collision.

Shouyou laughed nervously, and started for the bathroom again, “ehhahaha.. no, no race.” 

He continued to the bathroom, going a little more slowly, and noticed Tsukishima following him there, then inside too, “uh, I don’t need an escort…”

“What? No, moron, you made me squirt toothpaste all over my shirt,” Tsukishima replied coldly, then ignored him and moved over to the sink where he scrubbed the spot with a damp towel. 

“O-oh. Whoops. Do you, uh, want me to run and get you a new one?” Shouyou asked, feeling like most of their encounters were definitely speeding off the tracks into a train wreck; which was the complete opposite of what he was going for. Just staying on the tracks would be helpful at this point.

“Hah?! No. Just. Don’t worry about it, okay? It’s already sorted,” Tsukishima said in an agitated tone, petering out into indifference towards the end. Shouyou frowned and knit his brows together, realizing that he didn’t usually find himself completely alone with the other. It was like a sudden, shining, golden opportunity to ask Tsukishima anything and maybe get a real answer in return. The snide blonde seemed relatively open right now, with that soft thrum slowly filling the void. Shouyou had long ago become comfortable with the sensation and usually just ignored it, successfully feigning ignorance of their shared bond.

“Sooo, I heard ya got convinced to do some extra blocking practice… wanna share any pointers?” He decided to ask casually, thinking maybe he could discover why his soulmate was so set on staying still while everyone else was sprinting forward to improve for nationals. Tsukishima flicked his eyes up to the mirror, looking at Shouyou’s reflection briefly, then went back to scrutinizing his shirt.

He concentrated on his task a moment longer then replied liltingly, “Hmmmm? I doubt you could pull off anything I may have gleaned from Kuroo-san… so, why should I bother?”

“Huh?! Hey! You’re just afraid I’ll speed right past you like whoooosh and become the best middle blocker on the team! And then I’ll definitely be the ace!” Shouyou shot back at him indignantly. He didn’t know why he originally thought the latter might be in a nice sort of mood. He was clearly imagining things. Tsukishima snorted a haughty laugh and looked up at him in the mirror again. 

Shouyou just stared back, agitated, “what’s with you anyway?! What’s cooler, bein’ good at volleyball or sucking at volleyball?! You know you have everything you need to be really good at it, right?! Don’tcha want to compete in nationals and win?!”

“Sure, sure,” Tsukishima smirked back at him blandly in the reflection, then turned around to face him. Shouyou just frowned, brows furrowed in confusion at the lack of snarky comeback for once. Tsukishima walked closer, reached out with the damp towel, and swiped a wet stripe down the front of Shouyou’s shirt. Shouyou couldn’t do anything but stare, completely derailed and bewildered by Tsukishima’s bizarre mood. The moment didn’t last long and the blonde briskly stalked away towards the exit. 

He paused and looked over his shoulder before leaving, “lights-out soon. Don’t fall in and drown.”

Shouyou gaped at the empty doorway for a few seconds after Tsukishima was gone, then dragged his hands through his hair, “argh! I’m getting nowhere!”


	7. TK

Kei walked towards the third gym where he knew those meddlesome captains of the Tokyo teams were practicing. The ones who had recently goaded him into extra individual practice. He wanted to seek them out and get a second opinion on a few things.

Tadashi had finally blown his fizzling fuse and called him out on his nonchalance. It was about time, albeit surprising. Kei was a little torn though, knowing he had opportunistically used the momentum of the moment to finally draw the line for their relationship. But he couldn’t just ignore the question that Tadashi had asked. He felt a little down about it, even though he knew it was for the best. It was becoming more apparent day by day that he was standing in the way of Tadashi becoming his own, confident person. Especially since his friend was trying so hard to improve his skills while competing with all those codependency tendencies.  _ Knowing him, he’ll just accept what I said and go along with whatever I put forward now. Which will just be friendship. Which is fine. It’s for the best. But since he griped at me so much about volleyball, I may as well ask those arrogant captains why they have such unwavering investment in it, even though it’s just a game. They’re not the only ones who treat volleyball this way either.. Everyone on the team is acting like they’ve caught volleyball fever or something. _

He reached the gym and peered in, steeling himself to confront these guys and accept a new perspective, maybe. He didn’t have to wait long as Akaashi-san noticed him standing in the doorway, “hm?”

“Oya, oya?” Bokuto-san glanced over too.

Then Kuroo-san as well, “oya, oya, oya?”

“There’s something that’s been bothering me… can I ask you a question?” Kei asked, stepping into the gym and approaching the three of them.

“Sure thing!” Kuroo-san and Bokuto-san replied in unison. Kei had a slight inkling that was a bad omen.

“Thank you, I appreciate it,” Kei pressed on anyhow, “you both are on teams that are half decent, right?”

Kuroo-san scoffed incredulously, “you could say that!”

“... and even if you made it to nationals, winning it all is difficult, correct?” Kei continued, ignoring Kuroo-san’s mildly offended expression.

“But not impossible!” Bokuto-san groaned, looking irritated as well.

“How about we call this a theoretical discussion and just listen?” Akaashi-san suggested dryly like he was exhausted by the idea of the other two getting too worked up over a simple question.

“I am honestly curious about this. What makes you practice so hard? Volleyball is just a club. In the end, all this gets you is the chance to write ‘worked hard in school sports’ on your resume in the future, right?” Kei asked, attempting to keep his tone even.

“What?! ‘Just in club’? That…” Bokuto-san said seriously, “sounds like a person’s name, actually.”

“Yeah! It really does. ‘Justin Club’!” Kuroo-san agreed emphatically, then frowned skeptically, “no, wait. That’s not right. He said ‘just  _ a  _ club’!”

“Argh! You’re right! ‘Just a club’ doesn’t sound like a name at all! So close!” Bokuto-san lamented like he missed an opportunity for something great.

Kei glanced at Akaashi-san, “should I say something?”

“Don’t bother, they’ll just keep going,” he answered, looking bored.

“Anyways! Hey, four-eyes?” Bokuto-san snapped his attention back to Kei.

“It’s Tsukishima,” Kei corrected.

“Hey, Tsukishima-kun?” Bokuto-san repeated, “do you think volleyball is fun?”

Kei tilted his head in question and thought about it for a moment, “um… no? Not really.”

“Thought not! Isn’t that because you suck?” Bokuto-san plowed on, and Kei had to try very hard not to pull a face at his senpai. He didn’t want to be rude though, since they were willing to answer his vague questions and had more experience than him anyway.

“See, I’m a third-year  _ and _ I’ve been to nationals. So I’m better than you. Way better!” Bokuto-san stated easily. 

Kei was nearly convinced he had made a mistake in asking, but managed to comment back, “I’m aware of this. You don’t need to rub it in.”

“But it wasn’t until just recently that I started thinking volleyball was fun. That’s when I finally got good enough at line shots, to use them consistently in tournaments. Cross shots had always been my thing. I was so good at them! But then there was this one game where I totally got stuffed. That seriously ticked me off, so I practiced line shots like a madman. Then, we played that same team in another tournament game and I smashed a line shot past those same blockers. They didn’t even touch it. That was ‘the moment’ for me. That one hit felt so good I was like, ‘my time has finally come’! That moment. It’s about whether you have it or you don’t.” 

Bokuto-san paused for a second, peering at Kei like he was making sure he was still listening, “what you can put on a future resume… heck, even just winning future games, none of that matters. Proving you’re better than the opponent in front of you, and feeling yourself playing at one hundred and twenty percent of your full abilities. That’s what it’s about. Well, that’s what it’s all about for me anyway. I’m sure that’s not the case for everyone. I’d never call volleyball ‘just a club’ like you do, but I can’t say you’re wrong. But if, just if, that moment comes for you… that will be the moment volleyball hooks you.”

Kei just stared at the guy, a little bemused by his honest, heartfelt explanation.  _ A moment, huh? Proving you’re better, playing the best you possibly can, having pride in what you’ve done, and a perception-altering moment? That’s still a pretty tall order. Maybe I should get working on that, then. _

“Awwwwright! I answered your question, so you’ll block for me now, yeah?” Bokuto-san said cheerfully, lightly herding Kei towards the net. He let himself be ushered along while Kuroo-san laughed and joined them too. Kei maybe wasn’t ready to admit it aloud, but these guys were actually really helpful.

The next day during a practice match against Fukurodani, Kei noticed that his teammates were still relentlessly zinging around even though Fukurodani was definitely going to win the game. Their captain and ace, Bokuto-san, was a bit of an emotional enigma, but powerful. Adding him onto the rest of their roster of solid players made it all seem pretty obvious that Karasuno didn’t really stand a chance against them at the moment. Especially since his own teammates were flailing around trying to adapt to new moves they had just learned. 

Regardless, Kei resolved to put more effort in since he ultimately didn’t want to lose, certainly not to Hinata. It was challenging, trying to compete with someone who had so much natural, physical athleticism, and talent for volleyball. Hinata was a lot better at certain things than Kei was despite him being fun-sized, which was exceedingly difficult to admit. Kei tried the non-committal approach so far, but unironically, it wasn’t getting him anywhere he wanted. 

He glanced around the court during a short break while Coach Ukai started talking about how they needed to stop Bokuto-san from scoring, but if they couldn’t, then to at least get a hand on the ball.  _ Wait, we don’t have to completely shut him down? There would be a lot more options available to throw him off his game if we just got in his way a little more.  _

“We don’t have to stop him entirely?” Kei asked quietly. He didn’t miss the mild looks of surprise that his teammates sent his way, but he ignored their curiosity.

“Not technically, but if you can roof him, do it. That’s the ideal solution.” Coach Ukai advised. 

The match continued soon after and almost immediately, Bokuto-san ran up to spike. Kei saw the move clear as day and decided to try out some of the techniques Kuroo-san had just taught him for effective blocking against an opponent like Bokuto-san. It was like he could see the surprised hesitation in the ace’s eyes while he subtlety stretched his arms forward to block the ball. Even mid-air, he could see Bokuto-san’s face flash with mild panic and the ace tapped the ball over in a dink instead of powerfully slamming it down into Kei’s arms like usual. Fukurodani still scored the point even with that hesitant feint. Kei squinted at the ace in disbelief, but kept his composure while he overheard the opposing team harping on Bokuto-san for ‘chickening out’. He maintained his scrutiny for a beat longer, watching their teasing camaraderie while Bokuto complained loudly, then turned around to get into his new position. 

His eyes met Hinata’s coincidentally, catching the other gazing at him with a sort of intense, quizzical determination. The shrimp didn’t say anything though and just stared with those piercing eyes; Kei really wanted to know what went on in that tiny brain of his sometimes. It seemed to be a challenging sort of expression, like a rivalry. Kei peered back haughtily for a moment longer then turned and walked away. There was no way he would allow himself to be tangled up in a net like that, as it would be nearly impossible for him to get free again.

A couple of rallies later, he watched from the sidelines while the shrimp and the king continued to have trouble pulling off their new quick attack. Kei didn’t even want to analyze how it was supposed to work as that would be like trying to find the end to a Mobius strip, and listlessly observed them arguing in the middle of the court. Kageyama had set the ball as usual, but apparently, Hinata thought it was different and was now full-on nagging at Kageyama for slacking off. Kei almost thought the notion was funny, but the setter looked completely murderous and the game was now derailed for a moment. 

Kei rolled his eyes at the freak duo and Tadashi glanced over to him, asking quietly, “...was it really a different set than the new one?”

“Don’t look at me. Knowing Hinata, it’s probably pure animal instinct,” Kei remarked monotonously.

Coach Ukai intervened a few seconds later before the pair got into another fistfight and told them to stop trying for their new freak-quick until they could use it consistently. Kei just watched the exchange, noting Hinata’s deflation, then instant rebound when Coach instructed them to use normal quick sets instead.  _ Just watching him exist is exhausting sometimes. Pick a mood… or at least, a consistent state of being. _

This camp was really starting to illustrate how challenging it would be to get along with his bottle-rocket of a soulmate. However, the more he tried not to think about their bond, the more it seemed to linger in the back of his mind like it was daring him to try to ignore it. Hinata was so bright it was nearly blinding, which only further emboldened that illogical determination that he had for basically anything he set his mind to; mostly volleyball. Kei caught himself wondering if the small fry thought about things other than volleyball or what he would do if he knew of their shared bond. It definitely wasn’t enough of a curiosity to actually convince himself to reveal the bond though.

Later that evening, he was pulled into extra practice with Kuroo-san, Bokuto-san, and Akaashi-san again. It was starting to become more bearable since he got solid blocking advice. Although, Bokuto-san reminded him a lot of Hinata with that radiant energy which was more distracting than he’d ever admit.

Kei continued to muse to himself about their boisterous similarities while Bokuto-san said, “hmm? You bring a friend with you today?”

“What?” Kei asked, turning around to see what Bokuto-san was talking about, and immediately saw Hinata peeking through the open gym door eagerly. Kei raised his eyebrows at him, and asked, “where’s your _ partner _ ?”

Hinata popped into the gym and replied brightly, “Kageyama is practicing by himself again. I tried to get Kenma to set for me, but he ran away after only five sets again!”

“Wow. You got Kenma to do extra practice with you? That on its own is amazing,” Kuroo-san commented lightly, smirking to himself. Kei thought it looked a little sinister. Hinata then asked to join their practice, along with Lev who happened to pop into the gym at the same time. Kei just silently observed everyone, wondering what kind of tiresome practice these guys would come up with now that they had six people.  _ Why do I get the feeling things are going to get exhausting with this particular group of people…  _

Immediately after the thought crossed his mind, Kuroo-san suggested a three-on-three game. Kei raised his eyebrows in slight surprise as he was paired up with Kuroo-san and Lev, the other two tallest people in the gym. Akaashi-san made a similar observation out loud, but Kuroo-san just flippantly brushed away the remark with a wide smile plastered across his face. Unsurprisingly, Hinata and Bokuto-san had absolutely no reservations and bounced away looking excited to start the game. 

Only a few minutes into it and Kuroo-san was yelling out blocking advice, instructing them to square off and jump straight up instead of at an angle. Kei took him seriously, wanting to try it out, and saw Hinata dashing up to the net. The small fry sprang into the air like gravity was just a mildly bothersome tether, but Kei jumped straight up and completely roofed him. Hinata landed back down and snarled at him in frustration like a tiny, wild, woodland creature, “nyyyarrr!” 

Kei furrowed his brows and gave him a wobbly grimace, working very hard not to laugh at his soulmate. The pipsqueak’s reaction to being shut out like that was honestly hilarious.  _ Heh heh! What was that?! Was that actually cute?! _

“When you’re going up against a hitter one on one and you square up with them, center yourself over their hitting arm, not the center of their body,” Kuroo-san advised randomly while taking a quick sip of water.

Kei heard Lev agree right away, but such valuable, specific advice was strange to get from an opposing team captain, “by the way, we’re all technically opponents when the real games begin, right? So why are you giving us all these useful tips and tricks?” Kei noticed Hinata blankly shifting his gaze between him and Kuroo-san like he hadn’t considered this special training out of the ordinary. 

“Because I have always been a kind and generous person,” Kuroo-san said solemnly, bringing his hand up over his heart. Hinata just stared at him in confusion, and Kei peered back skeptically. The Nekoma captain scoffed and continued, “don’t look at me like that.”

He paused for a moment like he was taking in their countenances and deciding how much he wanted to elaborate, “y’know that whole ‘battle of the trash heap’ thing? We kinda want to make it happen too. It’s something our coach has been wanting for years, but now he’s old. There’s no telling how long he’ll be able to keep coaching. So if it’s ever going to happen, Karasuno has to keep winning too. And, well… it’s good practice for me too. Anyway! Don’t sweat the small stuff, ‘kay? Come on, let’s get back to practicing.”

They continued their game and Kei scowled across the net after Bokuto-san successfully used a rebound strategy against their block. He then smashed it past them in a sharp line-shot after having the ball reset by Akaashi-san. Kei put his hands on his hips and gazed across the net listlessly, watching the shrimp bounce around Bokuto-san while asking him all about rebound tactics and spouting things like ‘sooo cool!’. Bokuto-san started explaining the tactics, looking a little sheepish but flattered and giddy too.

“Sheesh, shorty is a natural at pumping up his teammates…” Kuroo-san remarked quietly. 

“Yes, he is, because he has no filter,” Kei commented back to him, earning himself a quizzical glance from the latter. Kei shrugged and glanced at Lev, who looked like he was straining to hear Bokuto-san’s quiet advice as well; but it was pointless as the Fukurodani captain was whispering his tactics pretty quietly for such a noisy guy. 

Bokuto-san and Hinata’s private chat ended a second later and they started up the next rally. Almost immediately after it began, Bokuto-san saved a stray ball and sent it to Hinata for the last hit. The shrimp sprang into the air like always, heedless of the looming umbrella of hands and arms that awaited him across the net.

Kei caught Kuroo-san smirking as he jumped straight up to block, knowing that the latter was probably thinking of how easy it would be for their trio of six-foot-three blockers to completely shut out any possible hitting options for the five-foot-four squirt. He heard Bokuto-san protesting loudly things like ‘hey!’ and ‘no fair ganging up on the guy!’, but none of it seemed to matter to Hinata. The guy was laser-focused as he smacked the ball directly into Lev’s splayed fingers. It ricocheted off of them and flew towards the ceiling then landed out of bounds behind them all. Hinata had surprised them all with a perfect block out. He had also gone flying from his own personal disregard for safety and landed roughly on his back. Kei scrunched up his nose slightly, wondering if the shrimp was secretly made of rubber while he bounced back up to his feet nimbly.

“Holy crap! Did you do that on purpose?” Kuroo-san asked disbelievingly, “that was an almost perfect block out!”

“Um.. yeah, I aimed for Lev’s fingertips a little,” Hinata replied, bashfully rubbing the back of his head, “but it was a total fluke. I’m not really good at accuracy.” 

“Yeah! But you still beat a six-foot-three triple block! Off a bad set too! Great hit, shorty! Great hit! I’m impressed!” Bokuto-san raved, hooking an arm around Hinata’s shoulders and roughly ruffling his hair, “man! A little warrior that fights valiantly against a seven-foot brick wall! That’s so cool!”

“Exaggerating much?” Akaashi-san commented quietly, obviously not expecting an answer.

“So, we’re seven feet tall now?” Kuroo-san added dryly. 

“Y’know what? I’m gonna teach you my special secret technique!” Bokuto-san said, grinning widely at Hinata.

The shrimp looked like he was going to combust from excitement, and Kei momentarily feared for Bokuto-san’s life. His soulmate moved closer to Bokuto-san with tunnel vision, his eyes like bright, shining stars, and he repeated, “s-secret technique?!” Bokuto-san looked beyond thrilled to be able to impart his wisdom on such a willing student.  _ Ah, there’s that pull again.  _

Kei shifted his attention around the others skeptically, wondering if anyone would intervene, and spied Akaashi-san looking quite exasperated. Kuroo-san had this funny, grimace plastered on his face like he knew nothing good would come of this, and Lev seemed furiously jealous. 

Despite all their whispering and furtive glances across the net towards the others, Kei didn’t have a chance to witness what this new spectacle would be. Just as they had finished talking and we’re about to begin another set, the managers from Fukurodani’s team peeked into the gym and warned them that they would completely miss dinner if they didn’t hurry to the cafeteria right away.  _ Damn, I was actually kind of curious to see what it would be too. It’s so frustrating, getting caught up in his whirlwind of energy. It’s like there’s no escape. He has the gravitational pull of the sun and he’s just as blinding. _


	8. HS

Shouyou walked along the park path lazily with his sister, Natsu. It was a really nice Saturday afternoon right before spring nationals qualifiers. The weather was perfect and Natsu had just finished the dance class that she took in town. Since their mom worked this evening, Shouyou offered to pick her up and walk her home to ease some of the family stress. He took trips up and down the mountain multiple times every day anyway; he didn’t mind helping at all especially in this weather where it was cool with a light breeze rustling through the greenery of the park. Shouyou had convinced his sister to stop by and play before they headed home from her class and she was pretty obliging. It only took a promise of ice cream from the vendor in the park to completely hook her on the idea.

Shouyou spotted the vendor cart and headed over, glancing behind him to make sure Natsu was following along. She skipped to keep up and broke into a quick sprint to get to the cart first. Shouyou laughed and ran too, slowing his pace the last few strides to let her win. 

“Okay, you win, you win. What flavor do you want?” Shouyou asked, smiling and flitting his attention between the ice cream flavors and his sister’s excited face.

“Oooohh… chocolate!” She chirped happily.

“Gotcha!” Shouyou replied, then turned to the vendor, “hi! one scoop of chocolate in a cone and one scoop of strawberry in a cone, please.” 

They got their ice cream and walked along the path together until Natsu exclaimed loudly, pointing, “it's the prince!”

She took off excitedly towards a bench and Shouyou chased after her, halting in his tracks when he spotted who she was talking about. Tsukishima sat alone on the bench with his headphones placed around his ears and an opened book in his hands. He looked up briefly from his reading at the commotion and did a double-take like he was surprised to see them. His eyebrows rose and he started to take one side of his headphones off his ear while Natsu shouted happily, “hiya, prince!”

“Huh?” Tsukishima said, looking bemused while taking the headphones completely off; Shouyou hoped beyond hope that Tsukishima didn’t actually hear what his sister had said.

“H-Ha.. ha.. yeeeah. Hi, Tsukki! Whatcha doin’?” Shouyou asked lightly, trying to gloss over Natsu’s glee at finding ‘Prince Charming’ in the park. 

Shouyou couldn’t really argue with her on her adamant opinion of Tsukishima. He really was very princely with his looks and lofty demeanor. Shouyou usually didn’t consider it since the guy was so distant with his venomous snark. Also, as basic as it was, Shouyou would maybe admit that he only paid attention to others’ appearances when considering their height; it kind of showed what kind of threat they might be, but that was mostly volleyball related anyway. Now that he was thinking about it though, Tsukishima was really good-looking with his handsome features, tallness, and mysteriousness; he was so smart too, and Shouyou knew firsthand he wasn’t just faking it with the glasses. 

“Reading,” Tsukishima replied dryly, lifting the book up a little like that fact should be obvious, but he looked back at Natsu and asked pleasantly, “who’s this then? I’m guessing your little sister? Or a clone?”

“I’m Hinata Natsu! Nice to meet ya, handsome!” She sang out happily and gave a curtsy, purposely swishing her little ballet tutu around. Shouyou grimaced and facepalmed, irked that his nine-year-old sister was flirting with his soulmate who was oblivious to their shared bond anyway. He really didn’t need her spilling the beans on that fact, but he didn’t think she would go out of her way to mention it either. 

Tsukishima actually smiled and laughed a little as if Natsu’s cutesy charms were working to soften his stoic exterior, then said, “Nice to meet you too, Natsu-chan.” 

“You can call me Nacchan! Like Nii-chan does,” she said liltingly, not missing a beat, and she did a little wobbly spin.

“Whoa, whoa!” Shouyou tried to warn her and threw his hands up as if to say ‘cool it’, but she slipped on some leaves anyway, smearing her chocolate ice cream right across her leotard.

“Ahhh!! Oh noooo! Niichaaan!” She wailed, starting to tear up a bit.

“Ahhh.. it’s okay Nacchan, I’ll help, just stand still for a sec,” Shouyou said, and quickly turned to Tsukishima, who was watching them with raised eyebrows and a highly amused smirk creeping up on his face. It disappeared a moment later when Shouyou abruptly shoved his own ice cream cone into Tsukishima’s hand, “hold this for me?”

Shouyou quickly snagged some tissue out of his track jacket pocket and blotted the stain. Most of it came off on tissue, but there was still a spot left behind and Natsu eyed it sadly.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’ll get the stain out all the way when we get home. Why don’tcha go play and finish the rest before it melts, yeah?” Shouyou placated, bringing his hands up to rub her arms consolingly. It seemed to work and she nodded before taking off towards the playground.

Shouyou watched her for a second as he walked back towards the bench, tossing the used tissue in a nearby bin. He plopped down next to Tsukishima and sighed, running his hands through his hair before peeking over at the blonde. The latter was gazing at him incredulously, still gingerly holding the melting treat. 

Shouyou grinned at the sight, “hah! Sorry, Tsukki! Please, eat that. I-I promise I only had one bite before… it’s strawberry, your favorite, right?”

Tsukishima just stared at him blankly for a moment, which was really strange as Shouyou had never seen that type of expression from him before. The guy always looked like he was thinking about something or other, but that vacant look was completely new. It was fleeting, however, and it morphed into confusion, further disbelief, and maybe, finally, acceptance as he took a lick of the ice cream. 

Shouyou beamed at him, seeing a flash of delight across his face after the first taste. Tsukishima looked back at him and asked, “how did you know that?”

“Oh? Ummm… well, I think… m-maybe Yamaguchi said so?” Shouyou supplied a flimsy answer. In reality, he always remembered small details about his teammates whenever things were mentioned. He was also searching for ways to become friends with the snarky blonde specifically and thought that discovering his interests might work. Nothing else seemed to be working from their past encounters anyway. It was pure luck that strawberry happened to be his favorite flavor of ice cream too and he always chose it.

“Hmmm?” Tsukishima replied with a disbelieving kind of tone, “so what’s up with the ‘prince’ nonsense anyhow?” 

He kept eating the ice cream casually like he wanted to be standoffish about it but missed the mark because it was so delicious. Shouyou was nearly too distracted in watching such a rare sight, but the blonde’s question caught his attention regardless.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, she’s.. uh.. nine? And, um, ah… well y’know how siblings can be…” Shouyou fumbled, realizing he couldn’t think of a good way to avoid embarrassment, “she, uh, thinks you look like a prince. Y’know, 'cause you’re all tall and good-looking.”

Tsukishima immediately had that blank sort of expression washed across his face again at Shouyou’s rambled explanation. He leaned closer, waving a hand in front of his soulmate’s face to snap him out of it, “Tsukki? You alright?”

“Excuse me?! Of course I am!” Tsukishima blinked, then said quietly, “I’m not really that close with my brother anymore. So, no, I wouldn’t say I know how they ‘can be’.”

“Oh? Why not?” Shouyou asked, giving him space again and leaning back against the bench while peering a little way across the park at Natsu.

“Hmm,” Tsukishima just hummed quietly then said, “distance and dishonesty, mainly. Maybe a small side of witnessing endless amounts of hard work amount to nothing but thinly veiled lies and disappointment. Foolishly deceiving oneself into thinking something’s possible when it’s completely out of the realm of reality.”

Shouyou turned around to face him again, brows furrowed at such an answer, “that all sounds pretty.. complicated.”

The distance itself sounded challenging to handle and Shouyou found it hard to even think of being separated from Natsu. He wondered what kind of dishonesty Tsukishima was talking about too. Whatever the latter had just said sounded really bitter and complex; it was hard to piece together exactly what he meant without all the details.  _ That’s a lot to unpack. I wonder what happened exactly between Tsukki and his brother to make him say things like that. Maybe things would get better if they just talked it out.. _

Tsukishima didn’t say anything further and just kept eating the ice cream in silence, staring straight ahead of himself. Shouyou kept his gaze on him, despite being blatantly ignored, and commented, “y’know… sometimes people do things that I really just can’t wrap my head around. But then I remember that it’s my own drive and choices that keep me moving in whatever direction I go. So it must be the same for them too, right? They just have their own way of going about things, I guess, even though it doesn’t make sense to me.”

Just then, it looked like Natsu decided it was a good time to attempt to jump off the swing. Shouyou caught the action out of the corner of his eye and sprang up off the bench, jogging a few feet towards her to make sure she didn’t hurt herself. She was fine, apparently, and waved happily with a huge, toothy grin, visible even from their distance apart. Shouyou sighed and put his hands on his hips, then glanced back at Tsukishima, who was already watching him intently. Shouyou fidgeted at the sudden, intense attention, “y-you wanna play some volleyball?”

“Absolutely not,” Tsukishima said bluntly, then got up, “see ya later, Shrimp. Thanks for the ice cream.”

Shouyou tilted his head as he watched his soulmate put headphones back on and walk away. He frowned, realizing that it was a very weird experience and Tsukishima was acting odd since none of the snark was necessarily directed at him.  _ Hmmmm… maybe the strawberry ice cream actually worked a little. _


	9. TK

It was finally the last day of the prefecture qualifiers, then there would be a break until either the rest of the spring tournament or until the next inter-high tournament if they didn’t beat Shiratorizawa. Kei was honestly a bit surprised when they won their match against Seijoh the previous day. However, his teammates had played like their lives depended on it, going all out for the final win. He eyed them as they walked together into the gymnasium and heard Sawamura-san say something captain-like about winning their match today and then the entire spring tournament. Kei rolled his eyes at the monster duo as they started bickering about something the king had said that the shrimp clearly took issue with. Kei just muttered, “I don’t really care either way…” but only Tadashi heard him and gave him an anxious grimace.

They made their way to the side of the court where they could put their gym bags during the game and Hinata commented that he needed to use the bathroom again. Kei sighed, wondering if his soulmate would run into trouble using the facilities like he always seemed to. No matter where they were, it was like the bathroom was cursed for him and something unfortunate happened. He glanced around the rest of his teammates, seeing Tadashi following after Hinata after saying something about needing to use the bathroom too, and he decided to follow them. 

Kei kept a casual distance, tailing them discreetly. He leaned against the wall and watched them go in, then waited like a bizarre bathroom sentry. Tadashi exited just a minute or two later and Kei almost wanted to give up and leave. It was ridiculous that he would want to play guardian at this moment, but he felt weirdly obligated nonetheless. Tadashi noticed him and came over, glancing around the busy hall, “what are you doing, Tsukki? Did you need to use the bathroom too?”

“No,” Tsukki replied listlessly, eyes still trained on the bathroom door.

“Oh? Um, okay?” Tadashi said, then started looking around like he was nervous. 

“If you’re nervous, just try taking a few deep breaths. You said Shimada-san gave you some pointers?” Kei asked quietly, seeing Hinata come out of the bathroom just a second later. Tadashi started talking very fast about a ‘reset point’, but Kei’s attention was a little split. Some unknown volleyball players in their jerseys had rounded the corner of the hallway at the same time Hinata came out and nearly collided with him. Hinata yelped in surprise and plastered himself against the wall so he wouldn’t be run over by the group of five or so guys who were definitely not watching out for sketchy little shrimps. 

The guys laughed at Hinata’s jumpy reaction and Kei pushed himself off the wall. He shoved his hands in his track jacket pockets and took a few steps closer, staring down his nose at the rowdy guys. His abrupt, intimidating presence caught their attention easily enough, and he idly wondered if they’d back off just as easily. Tadashi had gasped lightly at his sudden retreat from his spot and followed him, exclaiming loudly when he spied Hinata flush against the wall, “H-Hinata! Come on, what are you doing there?”

Kei just maintained his haughty gaze on the other players, who had stilled and were leering back at him silently. Hinata bounced over to his own teammates quickly like he was simply responding to Tadashi’s curiosity and not escaping an altercation. Kei let out a small ‘tch’ and started heading back towards the gym entrance with Tadashi and Hinata following him closely, chatting excitedly the whole way back.  _ Every. time. He’s cursed. Everyone is always drawn right in by him, no matter what he’s doing.  _

They made it just in time for warm-ups, which flew by in a blink and Kei scanned the crowd in the stands for a moment out of curiosity before the match started. He immediately noticed a suspicious-looking, yet very familiar person rigidly hiding amongst Karasuno’s supporters. He shot them a dirty look, knowing full well it was his older brother, Akiteru, whom he had specifically told not to come.  _ How is this day already this exhausting?  _

Kei was brought out of his contemplation abruptly with the sound of the crowds cheering. Shiratorizawa’s team had entered the court and the supporters in their stands were going wild. Kei grimaced to himself, glancing between the crowd, their opponents, and his teammates. He didn’t mind the noise, but he knew the majority of his teammates were incredibly on edge with nerves. All the racket would probably wind them up even more.

He turned out to be accurate in his prediction, as he stood on the court mid-play and watched his teammates flounder around him clumsily. They were making loads of minor errors in their play. Even with the foresight that Shiratorizawa’s main weapon, Ushiwaka, was left-handed, it was still frustratingly difficult to get a deflection when he hammered the ball across the net. Sugawara-san lost it at one point too, screaming at them from the sidelines for all their jittery fumbles on the court. However, by the time his unusual severity ended and the team sorted out their nerves, they were already several points behind. 

That niggling frustration carried on for several more lost points. Kei knew that it would take a while to adjust to Ushiwaka’s play style and power, but it all felt like none of his blocks mattered. Coach Ukai continuously called out from the sidelines to ‘get a hand on the ball’ or ‘show him there’s a wall!’, and Kei huffed in irritation, realizing his block timing was too slow. He was starting to wonder if they’d be able to do as Coach Ukai suggested and create a wall that would force the opposing ace to only hit line shots towards a waiting Nishinoya. 

In the very next rally, Kei finally got in front of Ushiwaka with better timing, but the guy slammed the ball down harshly, blowing through his splayed fingers. Shiratorizawa reached sixteen points with that ball and the referee called for a technical time-out. Kei moved over to the benches with the rest of his teammates and grimaced at his right index finger; it was definitely jammed now from blocking that last hit. Sawamura-san started talking with the others about how even Ushiwaka’s soft hits were weapons as well and Kei listened distractedly, running his unharmed fingers over the jammed one. 

“Tsukki! Did you jam your finger?!” Tadashi asked urgently, coming over to him in a tizzy, “that looked like a zinger!”

“Would you not make things rhyme like that, please? It’s disturbing,” Kei replied dryly, while Ennoshita-san came over as well and offered to tape up the finger for him. Kei nodded politely to his senpai while he heard Tadashi mutter a quiet ‘sorry’, and Kei placated him mildly, “besides, it isn’t like this is anything different from normal. Heck, we’ll be lucky if it stays only this bad…” 

“There,” Ennoshita-san said, looking over his finished work and releasing Kei’s hand. Kei looked up at the pair of them and was met with grim expressions. 

“Thanks,” Kei replied, grateful that his senpai was good at taping up appendages.  _ It only makes sense that any hit from that powerhouse of a player has the potential to do real damage if fingers get in the way. I’d be surprised if this only happens once…  _

He looked over to the opposing court, noting that Ushiwaka up to serve, and grimaced knowing his serves were just as bad as his hits.  _ At least my position means I don’t have to receive those serves… you’d have to be a freak to bump those with any consistency… the crowd is clearly on Shiratorizawa’s side too, and we’ve basically dropped the first set already since we’re ten points behind.  _

Kei ruminated to himself, glancing around his teammates. He stopped on Nishinoya-san in mild surprise. The libero looked dangerously determined while getting into a nimble crouch to receive and a moment later shouted, “bring it oooooooooonnnnn!”

In the next moment at the whistle, the ball came barreling over the net like a rocket with Ushiwaka’s serve and Nishinoya got directly in its path. He swiftly bumped it, finally getting a handle on the left-handed spin, and sent it perfectly to Kageyama. The setter leapt into the air like he was about to spike it himself, but abruptly sent it to Tanaka-san in a quick-attack, who smashed it down for a point. Kei stared at his teammates in quiet surprise, frowning at their success. He knew Nishinoya was an amazingly skilled libero, but he also really didn’t think the guy would get a grip on Ushiwaka’s divergent style as quickly as he professed he would; Kageyama was always frighteningly crafty when it came to volleyball. There was simply no denying that fact. It was hard to witness these slight triumphs as they sparked little glimmers of hope that they could actually pull it together as a team.

He silently watched his rowdy teammates celebrate the score together and listened to Tanaka-san’s commentary about Kageyama being unflappable even in the face of Shiratorizawa. The King just replied something about ‘nothing and no one scaring him more than Oikawa’, which made Kei smirk a little to himself.

Shiratorizawa was plenty crafty and skilled at volleyball as well, and they were still having trouble adjusting to their tactics. As they knew in advance, Ushiwaka’s power was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to the depth of their plays. The only thing Kei could do was hang back on his efforts and analyze them thoroughly for patterns in their gamesense. Luckily, Sugawara-san was subbed in to serve instead of him when he rotated to the back and he discovered that Ushiwaka really didn’t receive serves; and their number five, Tendou, was particularly sneaky with delayed spikes.

Kei continued his subtle battle survey despite his frustration and watched as Ushiwaka received Hinata’s freak-quick, then glared directly at the shrimp afterward. He idly wondered when his soulmate found the time to start a feud with the stoic giant, but it was clear that he had. In the next second, the ball was set back to Ushiwaka and he slammed it past their triple block, right through Hinata’s splayed fingers. The shrimp landed back down and shook out his hands as if they stung, hissing bitterly through clenched teeth, “owww!” Kei blew out a breath of air he hadn’t realized he had been holding back while he watched that block.  _ How are we going to stop Ushiwaka? He’s clearly going after Hinata now. The only way to win is to mute him as much as possible. Can I actually stop him at all? Maybe even just one…  _

In just a flash later, the set was over with Shiratorizawa completely demolishing them, 25-16. Kei listened wordlessly while Coach Ukai and his teammates discussed their plans for the second set during their short break. Coach Ukai advised them that they’d have to play the long game in order to beat Ushiwaka. They’d peck away at his endurance by forcing his teammates to rely too heavily on him, but this would require being monstrously aggressive and relentless in their attacks. Kei gazed around his pumped up teammates, the flock of crows, and almost smiled in the knowledge that most of them would have no qualms with this strategy. 

The next set started just as planned and they played even more aggressively than before, but that sneaky number five seemed to be riling up Hinata and Kageyama right up on the net. He shut them both down back to back and Kei watched his intense guess-blocking from the sidelines while Nishinoya-san was in play.  _ He’s taking in all our information as if he were read-blocking, but then he’s making an estimated guess as to what we’ll do and jumps to block even if it’s before the ball is set. But it’s not quite read-blocking if he’s jumping before the ball is set… he’ll make a mistake eventually. No one can use that strategy with one-hundred percent accuracy.  _

Coach called a time out to discuss how to handle number five, the guess-monster. He briefly explained how Tendou was blocking then encouraged everyone not to focus on figuring out the guy's movements and not fall into his traps by doing so. 

Tadashi muttered quietly while the whistle blew to resume the game, “what can Kageyama do to keep his sets from being read like that? Should he do what Hinata does and do some kind of crazy, antsy dance first to throw them off?”

“That sounds funny. Let’s go with that.” Kei replied, earning him a scoff from the King as he walked by to get into position with the rest of the guys in play at the moment. 

Sugawara-san laughed and said once Kageyama was out of earshot, “I’m with Tsukishima on this one. Nice suggestion, Yamaguchi-kun!” 

Kei noticed the King look back over his shoulder at Sugawara-san with a pouty grimace, but the other just waved him off flippantly, smiling. It reminded Kei of the soulmate bond for a flash of a moment and his eyes wandered over to Hinata. The small fry was already in position and squinting across the net at Tendou like he was determined not to let the guess-monster get the better of him. Kei snorted a laugh at the sight, knowing that simply being on guard against a blocker like that played right into their hands. 

He looked away quickly and surveyed the rest of the players before anyone happened to follow his gaze. Tadashi in particular was prone to get mixed up in his business and he definitely wanted to avoid that at all costs. The last thing he needed was gentle nagging from his best friend about his love life, and Tadashi would most definitely push him to sort out his soulmate relationships if he knew; especially since the guy had recently started down the path of sorting out his own situation. It was logical that he would nudge Kei to do the same. 

Kei tuned back into the match to see Kageyama put up the ball with such perfect form that there was no way to tell where he would send it; which resulted in Hinata smacking it down right over Tendou’s head as he and the other blockers didn’t even get a chance to jump and block. The opposing blocker didn’t look too perturbed though and just gasped a playful ‘whoops!’. 

A few rallies later, Kei was back in the front row and had an opportunity to face off against number five himself. The latter looked quizzically at Kei for a moment before saying, “oh, look. It’s the normal schlub.”

Kei didn’t reply, but the comment definitely irked him. He must have made a face without intending to because Sawamura-san said quietly a beat later, “hold it. No rising to the bait.” Kei pressed his lips together tightly and got into position on the court, ignoring the guess-monster for now.

The ball was served by Shiratorizawa and Nishinoya saved a tricky floater, but it went flying back over the net. Kei saw the opposing setter move to toss to Tendou and he got into the perfect position to jump straight up. Tendou made a few subtle movements with his jump timing as if he were simply thinking about whether or not to jump at all. Kei realized in a split second that the tricky guy was planning on using a delayed spike-attack and matched his jump, completely roofing his efforts with ease.

The guess-monster landed back down with a confused ‘bweh?’, and Kei gazed at him through the net darkly, still annoyed at the guy’s rude attitude from earlier, “hello there, I’m the normal schlub. A word of advice, delayed spikes may deceive a certain unnamed wild child of ours… but they will not be effective against me. I suggest you keep that in mind.”

“Y’know, I already figured Karasuno’s newbies were a bunch of aggravating little snots, but you take the cake!” Tendou responded grimly, squinting back at him in irritation.

“Why thank you!” Kei replied politely, sheepishly bowing as if Tendou had given him a sweet compliment. 

“Argh! Ticks me off!” Tendou griped back at Kei’s unflappable nonchalance. He felt a little better after poking back.

Asahi-san served next, but Shiratorizawa picked it up and it was set to Ushiwaka. Kei knew his timing was sorted out, but the guy blasted the ball right through his splayed fingers. He had managed to touch the ball, however, which was an improvement as far as blocking Ushiwaka was concerned. Kei maintained his stony countenance and glanced at Shiratorizawa’s setter. The latter was already peering back at him with a somewhat unreadable expression, but Kei had an inkling of what it really was: burgeoning stress due to a persistent wall.  _ Even if Ushiwaka isn’t quite feeling the walls we’re putting up against him yet, I’m positive their setter is. A setter sure does hate it when their plays and spikers get blocked or deflected. Keep thinking about my blocking, number ten. I’m not going to give you the opportunity to forget. _

Kei continued with his plans, subtly getting a hand on as many spiked balls as possible in an attempt to unhinge the opposing team; especially that snooty looking setter of theirs. They were near the end of the second set, only one point behind Shiratorizawa, and Coach Ukai called for a time out. Kei looked around his teammates while Coach Ukai reminded everyone that they ultimately had five sets to play, all plays were connected, and even plays that didn’t seem to have an impact at the moment were definitely felt at some point. The whistle blew for the end of the time-out and the team started making their way back onto the court. Kei knew if they just were a bit more specific and consistent with their block timing, Shiratorizawa would feel it; then they could direct the ball where they wanted.

“Excuse me…” he called out to Sawamura-san, Asahi-san, Tanaka-san, Kageyama, and Hinata. Once he had their attention, he asked quietly, “when we put together triple blocks, could I ask you all to leave the timing to me?”

“Sure, we can try that, Tsukishima-kun,” Sawamura-san answered. Asahi-san and Tanaka-san gave brief quizzical sort of nods of agreement, Kageyama joining them curtly. Hinata squinted at him with curiosity for maybe a second or two longer as if he was trying to read Kei’s mind about his plans. Kei leered back at him haughtily after the others had already turned away, wondering what bizarre assumptions were bouncing around in that pea-brain of his. He almost asked, but then the shrimp nodded slowly at him too and walked off to his own position before he could. Kei shrugged it off as it was pointless to spend time ruminating on the brainwaves of the guy and got into position as well.

The deflections continued at their consistent pace, and Kei could clearly see Shiratorizawa’s setter becoming more and more frustrated with a little scowl lingering on his face after each impeded hit. Shiratorizawa was still scoring points as it was nearly impossible to stop Ushiwaka, but at least Karasuno was keeping up and they were neck and neck. In the next play, Kageyama sent the ball to Kei, but number five was clearly ready to block. Kei tipped the ball over with a light push from his fingers, lobbing it up and over in such a way that their disgruntled setter would have to bump it. Regardless, Ushiwaka went after the ball anyway, seemingly unperturbed by the messy receive, and Kei calmly led Kageyama and Asahi-san into the block, “here we go, nice and easy. One. Two. Three!” 

They jumped in unison, creating that tall, unavoidable, looming wall that forced Ushiwaka into smashing the ball down in a sharp line shot. Kei smirked to himself for a flash of a second as the ball went zooming down directly into Nishinoya-san’s waiting arms. Their super libero bumped the ball with ease like he had been awaiting its arrival the whole set and it went sailing perfectly to Kageyama. The opposing blockers scrambled, immediately going towards Asahi-san but they read the situation wrong. Kageyama tossed the ball in the opposite direction, directly to Kei who smacked it down harshly for a point. 

“Amazing dig, Nishinoya!” Sawamura-san yelled, looking exhilarated that they finally pulled off a successful total-defense strategy.

Nishinoya-san looked at Sawamura-san and said seriously, “couldn’t have done it without his shot range being pared down that hard.” He turned suddenly and grinned at Kei, who tried his best not to flinch at the wild look. His teammates continued to celebrate the successful strategy that was so hard-wrought and he heard Hinata loudly exclaiming on the sidelines something like ‘whoooaa total defense sooo cooool!’. It was tempting to let his gaze wander towards that excited voice, just to see the expression on his face that would surely match it, but Kei resisted and focused on analyzing their opponents. They all looked particularly miffed at losing the point.  _ We’re starting to get to them. If we keep this up, we might just take the set after all. _

The game went into a deuce with Tanaka-san cutting off Ushiwaka’s serves by scoring a decently level-headed block-out point. Kei realized he was up to serve now since he was rotating to the back, Nishinoya-san was now out and unable to complete total defense, and Hinata was back in the front row.  _ How do we pick up the slack in our defense with Nishinoya out? Still have them hit where we want? That’s the best option.  _

Kei thought ahead of potential gameplay strategies the opponents would use while he watched Hinata walk onto the court. The latter looked over his shoulder at Sugawara-san and Tadashi who were shouting encouragement along the lines of ‘go get ‘em!’ and ‘hit ‘em back!’. Kei firmly stood in place while Hinata continued his approach, giving the others a confident thumbs-up right before he smacked right into Kei, “humph!”

The shrimp turned to look at him, disgruntled at being bodily blocked, but Kei ignored the irritation and said quietly, “hey…” Hinata gazed at him in question and Kei continued in the same calm, low tone, “if they get a nice pass off my serve, it’s likely they’ll try for a quick set over the center. Jump at their number five with everything you’ve got.” 

Kei turned and walked away before seeing if the shrimp agreed or not, but he knew that the guy probably would. He banked on the fact that he didn’t usually, or ever, give the other blocking advice so it was likely he would listen. Kei’s predictions were accurate and immediately following his serve, Shiratorizawa made a clean pass to Tendou who attempted to score down the center. However, Hinata was magically there as if he had teleported and got a hand on the ball, deflecting it perfectly with a shout, “deflection!” 

“Free ball,” Kei intoned, saving Hinata’s deflection, and sending it to the setter’s position. He heard Hinata and Tanaka-san both cry out for the ball like they were desperate to get hands-on it again, but Kageyama had other plans. The King swiftly tipped the ball over the edge of the net in a setter’s dump, very obviously getting back at Shiratorizawa’s setter for making the same play only a few minutes prior. 

From a short distance, Kei heard Sugawara saying something about ‘aggressively competitive people’ and Tadashi was shouting, “Yeaaaah! Great one, Kageyamaaaa!” 

Kei scoffed then said with a slight upward tilt to his lips to no one in particular, “yes, that was honestly a great move by his majesty…” 

“Tsukishima!” Hinata screeched suddenly and Kei startled, quickly finding his assailant who was coming at him full speed with hands poised for a high-five. Kei nimbly spun around and side-stepped to get out of his path and the latter kept going with his momentum, ending up tackling Tadashi on the sidelines to stop. Kei sighed and got back into position to serve, wondering if they were going to take the set with the next play as they were at set-point now. 

They didn’t as Shiratorizawa caught up and kept the battle alive. Kei switched out with Nishinoya and headed to the sidelines, idly thinking about what he thought he heard Sugawara-san say earlier about aggressively competitive people. Shiratorizawa’s comeback didn’t seem to derail the freak-duo as Kageyama fully used Hinata as a decoy to completely throw off the opposing blockers and Tanaka-san scored easily with barely a hindrance. Kei watched them intently from the sidelines, constantly reminded of his soulmate’s erratic energy and ability to fling his body wherever he wanted with minimal effort and burgeoning finesse. He huffed and commented quietly to Tadashi, “it really is  _ irritating _ to have Hinata buzzing around in front of you all the time like a bug.” Tadashi looked back at him in bewildered surprise at his outburst; head tilting to the side slightly like he was trying to figure out where the sudden adamant opinion came from, but Kei didn’t elaborate further.  _ Keep it up. Go wild out there, freak duo. _

The points kept climbing higher and higher, nearing the thirties and Kei was starting to cringe at the idea that this set would keep going endlessly while he stepped back onto the court, rotating in. Nishinoya-san was out again and Hinata was up to serve, which was always iffy, at best. Kei immediately thought of number five again and started dwelling on their differences in blocking.  _ Hm.. having observed it so far, it seems like number five’s guess blocking is either one-hundred and twenty percent correct, or completely off at zero percent, while read blocking is a constant, even seventy-five percent. Though, our blocking is still.. raw.. to put it nicely. From the crowd's point of view, going for that one-hundred and twenty percent probably looks way cooler. Good blocking must never, ever give the opposing setter the pleasure of knowing they fooled you or a sense of accomplishment from getting past you. Be relentless. Be implacable. Be smart… _

Kei tuned back into the match while he considered the other players and jumped to block Ushiwaka, getting a deflection.  _ Never let them pass for free.  _

He landed and watched it sail out of bounds, but Hinata got under it like a puppy going after a frisbee at the park.  _ The seventy-five percent power strategy that leads to a one-hundred percent result. That’s read blocking. Keep the pressure on. Keep applying stress. Never ease up. That shrimp… he sucks at serving. He sucks at receiving. His set-ups, blocking and everything else are on the bottom end of average… so why do we even bother letting him out on the court?  _

Kei stared, nearly transfixed, watching Hinata sprint up the court from where he saved the out-of-bounds ball and launch into the air like a bird taking flight. Kei jumped too, knowing it was pointless as Kageyama would surely send the ball to the little crow, but did so anyway. The ball went zipping to Hinata in a flash-quick and his soulmate smashed it over the net in a minus-tempo-backrow-attack that blockers would never even imagine was coming, scoring Karasuno a break-point.  _ That’s right, he’s here to score.  _

“Nice deflection, Tsukishima,” Asahi-san commented, smiling quietly and snapping Kei out of his reverie. 

“If Hinata hadn’t been there to cover, it would’ve been just another ball Ushiwaka sent flying,” Kei replied. 

“Maybe… but without your deflection the rally probably would’ve ended right there with their point,” Asahi-san gently argued his point, pointedly gazing at Kei as if to say, ‘your efforts score points too’. He didn’t quite know what to do with that kind of compliment, so he nodded politely and turned his attention to their opponents.

The set quickly gained enough back and forth momentum to propel itself past the thirty point mark, but neither side was backing down. Kei could clearly see how their total defense was working, tenaciously etching little lines of stress in the opposing team. Logically, it would only take a little while longer before those stress lines splintered into cracks that they could use to break through and take the set. 

Kei calmly sounded off the jump timing again to his teammates while Ushiwaka swung his arm down, smashing the ball straight down where they directed him to; into Nishinoya-san’s expectant arms. Unfortunately, the bump was messy and the ball went pinging along several of his teammates before it sailed back over the net. Shiratorizawa got hands on it easily enough, but Kei could almost feel the opposing setter’s anxiety to set the ball perfectly so Ushiwaka could score with his cannon-blast spike.  _ A crack, just a little one. Pried open by stress and irritation. That’s what I’ve been waiting for…  _

Ushiwaka was in the air, about to bring down the hammer and nail the ball directly into their double block. Kei threw up his arms alongside Asahi-san, letting his hands drift slightly away from his teammates creating the perfectly tantalizing gap in their defense. Ushiwaka took the bait and slammed the ball forward, but Kei shifted his arms over in the last second, completely closing the space, shutting out the ball. It smacked off his hand with a loud clap and drove into the ground right past Ushiwaka’s shocked face. He was cramped just enough as the ball was a little low, too close to the net, and Kei finally stuffed him. Everyone else on the court was looking after the ball as it idly rolled away on Shiratorizawa’s side, but Kei was still firmly engrossed in the moment.  _ Just a block. Just one point out of twenty-five. Just a school club…  _

Kei was brought back into the present with overwhelmingly loud shouts of exhilaration from his teammates, and he pumped his fist in his own private celebration. They won the second set off of that one point, and he would probably admit in that instance alone that maybe Bokuto-san knew what he was talking about when he described getting hooked on volleyball from a single moment. Finally stuffing Ushiwaka was most definitely a perspective-shifting moment. He let out a small ‘oomph’ as he was tackled suddenly by Tanaka-san along with Nishinoya-san who literally pounced onto his back and clung on like a monkey.

“Tsukishimaaaaaa!” Tanaka-san shouted, even though he was already so close, “Tsukishima! Bruh! Like seriously! Tsukishima, bro! Dude! Bruh!”

“Ouch!” Kei managed to grunt out against the weight of his rowdy teammates’ glee. Kei glanced around his team, seeing their varied excited faces. Although, the King looked suspicious and slightly murderous for some unknown reason; probably because he didn’t initiate scoring the point himself by setting the ball to a hitter.

Sawamura-san seemed frantic, holding Asahi-san back by the shoulder like the ace was going to join the dogpile too, “whoa wait! If we pile on too, we’ll snap the poor guy in half!” Kei was very grateful to Sawamura-san at that moment; and for Tadashi too, as he was clearly holding back an absolutely wild looking Hinata from dashing onto the court as well. 

Kei took a deep breath once his senpai finally let go and the referee signaled for the teams to switch sides before the next set. All the excitement from the win was dissipating and things felt like they were returning to a normal energy level. He wiped his forehead with his arm and heard Asahi-san call out, “Tsukishima, that was awesome! Great job stuffing him!” Kei glanced over to him then looked back towards the ground in thought.  _ But we had to combine everyone’s efforts to create that much stress for even that tiny crack to form in the first place. _

“I’m sure they must have dealt with plenty of blockers at my level before. But I suspect that Nishinoya-san’s digs combined with the freak-duo’s block-ignoring attacks are a newer experience for them… and I suspect that has been a source of aggravation and stress for their setter throughout the game,” Kei replied after a beat, trying to simplify and explain his line of thinking for his strategies. 

Asahi-san and Sawamura-san stared back at him, looking a little taken aback, then the former said, “you’re thinking that deeply about it?!”

“Yeow… Tsukishima, you scare me…” Sawamura-san commented too. 

Kei just blinked at them in silence, before he heard Hinata shout, “Tsukishima!” and he looked over to the shrimp who was grinning and gazing back at him happily. Hinata then gave him a thumbs-up and yelled cheerfully, “that was an awesome ‘one point out of a hundred!’.. I approve!” 

It was so ridiculous of a statement and Hinata looked so bright in that instance that Kei couldn’t help but smile back at him. But his geniality quickly melted into a smug tilt of his lips, “thanks.”  _ You’re a middle blocker too, let’s see you stuff Ushiwaka now. _

Hinata bristled angrily, “what did you just say?!”

“Hinata! Calm down, bro!” Tanaka-san griped, “yeah, that was totally a ‘you’re a middle blocker, now you do it too’ look on his face, but calm down!”

“You don’t need to be making such a big fuss, you know,” Kei replied blandly while walking away towards the opposite court to switch sides, “it was just one point.” 

Apparently, this basic fact was not something his teammates wanted to hear as Tanaka-san tackled him again, jostling him around while scolding him with words of praise; all while Hinata bounced around agreeing and griping about his nonchalance at making such an ‘amazing point’.

The third set went by so fast it felt like a whirlwind of sweaty bodies, noisy referee whistles, cheering crowds, and reinvigorated opponents. Despite all that work put into breaking down Shiratorizawa’s setter during the previous two sets, he seemed to find his second wind during the third and Shiratorizawa ended up dominating; Karasuno lost by five points.

They stood waiting by the net after Shiratorizawa botched the first serve of the fourth set. Kei ran through the information Coach Ukai gave them during their break between sets, knowing that their aggressive playstyle was the correct approach and they weren’t doing anything wrong necessarily, but they just weren’t able to make enough break-points and shut down Ushiwaka at the same time. The answer was most likely better usage of their total defense with Nishinoya-san.  _ Maybe if we can make the shot clearer for Nishinoya-san, that would be the half-second he’d need to really bump all of Ushiwaka’s shots. He’s the only one who can really compete against the guy. _

“Asahi-san,” Kei called out to his senpai politely, “the next time Ushiwaka comes in from the right on a faster tempo attack and it’s just you and me double blocking him, let’s scoot things over just a little and close off the cross a little harder. The two of us can’t close off the cross like a triple block, but shutting it off just a little harder will clear up the line of sight for our ‘guardian deity’.” 

Asahi-san furrowed his brow slightly but nodded in agreement and Kei watched Sawamura-san’s serve get bumped and sent to Shiratorizawa’s setter. He frowned to himself, watching the setter very obviously send the ball right to Ushiwaka.  _ Botch the set again, would ya? Yet again with the ‘Ushiwaka wins’ set-up… with this smooth of a set, he either goes over the top of us or blasts straight through us. If we’re lucky, we’ll get a deflection… or..  _

Asahi-san followed Kei’s lead and jumped just slightly further from their usual positioning in front of the power-ace across the net. The guy slammed the ball down right into Nishinoya-san, who bumped it perfectly.  _ The only person on this court really equal to Ushiwaka, is him. _

“Nice dig,” Kei said calmly, watching Kageyama get under the ball and send it to Asahi-san who smacked it down for a point. Nishinoya-san cheered loudly and slapped hands with Asahi-san. Then they both turned on Kei and smacked him on the back in their excitement. He cringed and tried not to do anything else that would elicit that kind of response again. 

The rallies continued with Karasuno maintaining their small lead, but Kei couldn’t avoid feeling the scrutiny from across the net by the guess-monster. The guy had seemed pretty quiet for a while now. The next play, he spiked a ball past Kei’s block and commented liltingly, “oh, c’mooon… that was way too slow. Good blocking is good reads and a good nose for the game, y’know?”

Kei gazed back at him for a beat before replying dryly, “good blocking comes from a solid system.”

Regardless of who was right about blocking, it was obvious that the two schools worked off of completely different concepts when it came to gameplay. Kei scoffed to himself in frustration at Ushiwaka’s relentless attacks that were the epitome of Shiratorizawa’s powerful, individual-driven type of team build. They were racking up the points evenly again, but Kei wasn’t sure if they’d be able to pull ahead or not. It just didn’t seem like Ushiwaka was slowing down. However, they were continually persistent with their deflections, plus having someone guard the back of the court for all of the ace’s hits in an attempt to catch as many of them as possible. The strategy was working, albeit slowly, and Kei was increasingly frustrated that all these measures were necessary to hinder a single person. It was starting to become like a point of stubborn resilience, to demonstrate that blocking was definitely not just roofing the opponents every time like Tendou seemed to believe and Kei was becoming more and more invested in making this example apparent.

The torment continued and they were a few points behind now due to Ushiwaka’s harsh serves. Luckily, Sawamura-san got behind the serve and sent it up. Kei jumped into the air and slammed it down over the block in a quick-attack, cutting Ushiwaka’s service without getting too far behind. Kei rotated to the back and passed Hinata as he was rotating to the front. The shrimp looked a little distracted like something was weighing on his mind other than spiking volleyballs, which was weird, and the expression spurred Kei to comment quietly, “uh, excuse me? You realize we can’t get anywhere if you don’t do your job and y’know, score points while you’re in the front row, right?”

Hinata looked like he snapped out of it in an instant, gave Kei an unusually stern frown, and stormed right past him to his position, “I know!”

Kei watched him a moment longer then went to the serving position and waited for the whistle.  _ Coach says we’re supposed to aim at number four… but I suck at aiming my serves…  _

The whistle blew and Kei immediately smacked the ball over the net to the complete opposite side of his target, number four.  _ Oops. _

Luckily, it landed in the seam right between two players causing Shiratorizawa to fumble their receive and the pass was short.  _ Botched pass.. all’s well that ends well… _

Kei shrugged and watched the ball sail toward number four to hit, and caught a brief flash of disgruntled frustration painted across the shrimp’s face before he sprinted up towards the net and sprang into the air. Apparently, the guy thought that the best way to achieve optimum blocking height was to run and jump into it like he was about to spike the ball himself. Kei stared, mouth drifting open, as Hinata’s tiny hands completely roofed number four, snatching the point from Shiratorizawa. 

He didn’t stop there either, dashing backward and forward wildly all while flinging himself around the court like a mini rocket. Kei watched most of it from the sidelines while Nishinoya-san was in the rotation instead of himself. It was a decently impressive spectacle, even though it looked utterly exhausting. Kei mused that now Hinata was less like an annoying, buzzing fly and more like an annoying, buzzing hornet, stinging their opponents anywhere he could. He was gaining so much attention with his zippy antics that he even fooled Shiratorizawa’s blockers and Tanaka-san managed to score a breakpoint. Although, the point didn’t seem to help too much as Shiratorizawa managed to take a point back immediately afterward, every time. Hinata did manage to make several amazing blocks and deflections while playing the role of decoy; he looked like he was actually managing to run out of energy for once.

Karasuno was approaching match point and Kei rotated into the front row again. He turned when he heard a familiar voice shout out, “Tsukki!” Tadashi held his hands up by his mouth and continued, “don’t let Hinata beat you like this!” 

“What?!” Kei answered him and Tadashi came over closer, switching with Hinata to serve. He watched Coach Ukai call the shrimp over to sit on the bench, then said to Tadashi dryly, “it’s not like I’m competing with him in the first place.”

Tadashi didn’t answer but gave him a skeptical sort of once-over before getting ready to serve. Kei turned to the King while they waited for the whistle, “hey..”

“What?” Kageyama asked, gruffly.

“I want to try a delayed spike. Can you set one to me?” 

“Yeah, I can. Easy. Can you hit one?” The grouchy guy asked in return.

“I worked on it a little with Akaashi-san, yeah,” Kei answered and thought he saw Kageyama’s expression sour just a bit more. Kei didn’t even want to pick apart the reasoning behind that look and simply waited for the whistle. 

Tadashi’s next serve was really effective and cut off Ushiwaka from spiking the ball, which allowed for Kageyama and Sawamura-san to get a deflection off their number eight. Kei glanced briefly at Kageyama as he got under the ball again and set it to him. He paused, then jumped hard into the air when the opposing blocker had already started falling back down. The players were falling disjointedly and he smacked the ball down right over their extended hands, scoring a point.  _ You weren’t the only one, Hinata, who picked up new tricks during our training camp. Two more points and we’ll take this set.  _

The whistle blew, signaling that Shiratorizawa called a time-out, and Kei went to take a sip of his water. He chanced a subtle peek at his soulmate and was rewarded with an incredulous snarl of an expression. His eyes were lit up brightly as if they were on fire and Kei made sure to quickly look away again. He turned around completely to get out of that line of fire and smirked into his water bottle, letting out a few muffled laughs.  _ I’m starting to get the distinct impression that he’s competing with me as a middle blocker, legitimately. How ridiculous…we’re so different. I just feel like I can’t let him win, though. _

The next play brought Kei’s focus back to the opponents across the net as number eight slammed down the ball. Tanaka-san saved it and sent it to Kageyama, who sent it to Kei. But the toss was a little off, oddly, and his hands just didn’t reach the ball before it continued its arc right past him. He quickly swung his arm around like a windmill and bonked the ball underhanded. It lobbed over the net with a lazy sort of trajectory, surprising Shiratorizawa’s players, and scoring a point for Karasuno regardless of being completely off the cuff. At least now they were at match point. 

“Sorry,” Kageyama said quietly, almost like he was pissed off, and Kei couldn’t decide if it was because he had just apologized begrudgingly for fumbling the set or because he was disappointed in himself for running out of steam. 

“Ew. Hearing you apologize is just creepy. Stop it,” Kei replied nastily, making a face at the tired setter.

“What?!” Kageyama growled back loudly.

“So you  _ do _ have energy left,” Kei said blandly. It wasn’t really a question, but he needed to know one way or the other.

In the next play, Ushiwaka surprised everyone by tipping the ball over in a feint instead of smashing it through their triple block which brought the game to a deuce. Kei groaned to himself and heard the guess-monster verbally poking at Kageyama through the net something about ‘oh no a deuce!’ and ‘end of the world for a poor pooped out setter’. But the king just mumbled some scary-sounding nonsense right back at him, causing Tendou to leer back suspiciously. Kei was a little relieved he missed what the king had said.

The back and forth continued incessantly since neither team would back down and would not allow the other to score two points back to back. Kei grimaced as he landed back down after successfully blocking a sharp spike from number four alongside Kageyama. They had ended up being overzealous with their shutout of the opposition and roughly collided midair. 

“Uh, excuse me? Would you not go slamming into people like that? You aren’t Hinata. Jump up, not sideways. Up,” Kei muttered derisively, eyeing the King. 

“Hey! That hardly counts as slamming into people, ya beanpole! How about you actually try building muscle sometime, huh?” Kageyama snapped back angrily. 

Tanaka-san got between the pair and threw an arm around each exclaiming happily, “bruhs! Dudes!” He ruffled their hair, “nice block! Good teamwork!” Apparently, their setter was reaching his limits, becoming pissy about little missteps, and starting to nip back at innocuous taunts. Kei grimaced, knowing this wasn’t a good sign since it went against all of the king’s efforts to be decent. 

The points kept climbing and Kei was starting to worry that this set would pass thirty points as well. However, they were at match point again and it was like he got a front-row seat to the end of the set. Kageyama set the ball to Hinata in a freak-quick off a shaky pass, but the set was a bit short. Hinata was already midair, bodily flying to the right, but managed to extend his left hand and dink the ball in the opposite direction over the net behind the blockers. It fell and landed neatly in the seam between them all, scoring them the final point. Kei frowned and looked on as his teammates began to cheer and celebrate their win, but all he could think of in the moment was the illogical physics that Hinata seemed to have command of in the heat of the moment.  _ I could never get my body to do something like that. Height or not, he will most definitely turn out to be a better player than I ever will, even if he sucks now. Should I feel bad that I kind of admire him for some of that? Shrimpy monster.  _

After a break that seemed way too short with how drained everyone was, the fifth set began. They ran with the momentum of the previous set and scored several points back to back, but it was almost like Ushiwaka took personal offense to this and Shiratorizawa caught up and overtook them in a blink. The only thing Kei could focus on was ensuring that he was a persistent wall. A prickly thorn in the side of the opposing setter and hitters. Regardless of whether or not they were able to prevent the ball from touching the floor on their side, he made sure all incoming spikes were deflected. 

Ushiwaka smacked the ball forward, glancing sharply off Kei’s outstretched fingers and leaving them throbbing. He called out, “deflection!”, but it flew right past Nishinoya-san and Shiratorizawa scored. Kei landed and peered across the net after hearing a frustrated ‘tch’.

“Pain in the ass,” Shiratorizawa’s setter muttered, scowling, despite the fact that they had scored off that hit. 

Kei smiled pleasantly back at him and gave a short nod of gratitude, “thank you!”, then turned and walked away back into position.  _ I’m so glad to see that my efforts aren’t wasted. _

Ushiwaka served a netball next, but Sawamura-san managed to lob it back over. Kei carefully watched the opponents, hearing them shout ‘free ball!’ and seeing the setter put the ball up for Tendou. Kei jumped up and deflected the spike, but it was picked up again by Shiratorizawa.  _ Can’t seem to block it completely.  _

Kei heard shouts of ‘go again, go again’ and ‘gimmie!’, but it didn’t deter him from keeping his eyes glued to the opposing setter. He absorbed the minimal movements that indicated the ball would go to Ushiwaka next and darted left across the court. Jumping in time with Sugawara-san, he got a hand on the ball and yelled, “deflected!” 

Sugawara-san sent the ball to Tanaka-san on the left, but the guess-monster read the play and jumped the block. Tanaka-san was forced into a cut shot directly to the opposing libero, who saved it easily and sent it back to their setter. Once again, Kei heard the confident cries of ‘gimmie one more time’, but he refused to allow himself to get yanked around in the dizzying momentum of the rally and instead, carefully analyzed the setter.  _ Stay focused. Watch carefully. Pick up only the info that I need! _

As soon as he saw the ball heading towards Ushiwaka again, he found the perfect line-up and corralled Ushiwaka’s spike. The super-ace smashed the ball down exactly where Kei wanted and he felt an intense pressure blow past his fingers for a split-second. The ball zinged to the ground and the referee blew his whistle, signaling that it was out of bounds.  _ Ah hah! I finally cornered you, but now this.. _

Kei clenched his teeth together, feeling a throbbing sting in his pinkie finger. He didn’t want to look at it and stared at the ground in front of him instead while he heard the whistle again. The head referee overruled the ‘out’ call, citing that the blocker touched the ball.  _ No shit! I can acutely feel that I touched the ball! _

Kei closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened his clenched fist, peering down at his mangled finger. It was almost searing with a heated, nerve-stroking sensation and Kei immediately saw why as the skin had torn; bleeding profusely down his palm and over his wrist. He gnashed his teeth together even tighter and hissed through them to himself, “damnit!”

He glanced up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Sugawara-san was peering between his face and hand grimly, and he belatedly noticed that several other teammates and Coach Ukai had approached too. 

“Looks like Ushiwaka put enough heat on that ball that catching it with a finger yanked it hard enough to tear skin..” Coach Ukai commented, hovering closely and gazing at the injured appendage without actually touching it. Kei clenched his teeth even harder on instinct, not really hearing exactly what was going on around him for a moment.  _ Damnit! Why now of all times?! Thank god it’s just my pinkie. I can put up with the pain. How long will it take the bleeding to stop? If I just tape it up thick enough so it’s practically a cast, then maybe… one more tick of the rotation then Hinata moves to the front row… if I just get back in time… he can hold them off, probably.  _ Shimizu-san’s voice came through the jumble of sounds around the gym, insisting to take him to the infirmary. Kei accepted a towel and wrapped it around his hand, cradling it lightly, then allowed himself to be gently ushered off the court by Shimizu-san. He glanced around and found Hinata, catching his eyes, “you’d better buy me time! Got it?”

“Heck no! By the time you come back, we’ll already have our ticket to nationals!” Hinata shouted back hotly, looking fiercely perturbed. Kei grimaced and continued walking towards the gym exit with their manager. 

As soon as they exited the gym, he heard a worried shout, “Kei!”

“Onii-san, what are you doing here?” Kei asked lightly, then muttered, “I saw you earlier too...”

“Watching my baby brother play of course!” Akiteru replied, smiling a little nervously, “if you’ve got that much snark left in you, I guess you’re not dying.”

“Of course I’m not dying,” Kei responded liltingly as he kept walking towards the infirmary, passing by his brother, “I’m just literally useless right at the most critical juncture of the game. Ah well! Five sets is a long time to play. I’m exhausted. I could use a break right about now. My hand’s killing me.”

“‘My teammates can win this just fine without me.’ You can have at least that much faith in them,” Akiteru called out and Kei paused and glared at the ground in front of him. 

“Don’t worry,” Shimizu-san said calmly, “when we get back there, we won’t have lost.” 

Kei nodded and they made their way to the infirmary, Akiteru tagging along. The nurse greeted them when they entered and instructed Kei to sit down. 

“So, let’s take a look…” the nurse said and Kei unwrapped the towel, then held out his hand for them to inspect, “hmm, luckily, nothing’s broken! Just dislocated! It was definitely grazed pretty roughly though, huh? The skin’s pretty banged up. A volleyball did this?”

Kei nodded, “can we tape it up so I can get back to the game, then?”

“I wouldn’t recommend playing with it like this, but yes, if I popped it back and taped it against another finger, you could play,” the nurse replied, eyeing him skeptically, “it’ll be painful though… you sure?”

Kei nodded again, “yes, thank you. I’ll be fine.”

The nurse hummed to themself and started working on fixing up Kei’s finger, but he wasn’t really paying attention after that with his mind still back in the gym.  _ Ugh, my hand’s killing me, this sucks. But now that I’m not distracted by being in the action, I think we can lure Ushiwaka into making a shot that will benefit our side. Especially if we prepare for it in advance by using the restrictions we’ve already put in place… choose the shot he makes… it might work. Lay a trap. _

“All done! I’d advise you to take it easy, but it doesn’t seem like that’s your plan. So, good luck!” The nurse said cheerfully. Kei glanced up at them with furrowed brows.

“Huh? Oh. Thank you for making it usable, I appreciate it.”

They left quickly and Kei nearly jogged back to the gym, all taped up and ready to face whatever was waiting for him past those double doors. He zoned in on the scoreboard as soon as he entered the space, seeing that they were one point behind and the set was a deuce already. 

“Tsukki!” Tadashi yelled, but Kei marched straight up to Coach Ukai.

“Tsukishi-“

“The bleeding has stopped completely. The finger that was dislocated has been thoroughly and firmly taped by the nurse. It was only my pinkie finger, so the effect on my play will be minimal at most.” Kei said rapidly, staring down the man.

He looked back at Kei skeptically then looked to Shimizu-san as if for confirmation and she said, “that’s basically it.”

“Alright then. If you’re sure, we’ll rotate you back in the next opportunity,” Coach said slowly, still looking skeptical, but also determined. He nodded towards the bench, indicating that Kei should sit while they waited for said opportunity. Kei walked over and sat down next to Hinata, who he had just realized was already seated there too and peering at them the entire time. Kei frowned slightly at the pain zinging up through his forearm and looked across the court at their teammates who were now mid-rally, but holding their own just as Shimizu-san assured. She came over and handed him the little sign with the number eight on it, so he could trade with Narita-san when the rally was over.

“I bought you time,” the shrimp spoke up, eyes still trained on him. Kei flicked his eyes to him and Hinata caught them for a split second before he looked away towards the court, “well… that’s what I wish I could say. Really, Yamaguchi did a better job of it than I did.” 

He maintained his scrutiny for a beat longer, then looked to the court too, “thanks for your honesty.”  _ Why do I get the feeling he did more than he’s letting on..  _

Sawamura-san skillfully bumped a jump float serve, then Kageyama surprised nearly everyone with a setter’s dump, evening the score. The whistle sounded and Kei traded places with Narita-san, “it’s in your hands now, Tsukishima.”

Kei bowed politely to his senpai, then met the rest of his teammates on the court. Ushiwaka waved him down in silent apology for the damage done, but Kei just thought of it as an unavoidable hazard at this point and nodded back nonchalantly. Then he was mobbed by his teammates with Tanaka-san shouting, “Tsukishima! Bro! What was up with that whole ‘hero’s entrance’ thing, huh?”

Kei ignored him and said instead, “um, about those times when we put up a triple block...”

“All business, all the time.. sheesh,”

“The whole game we’ve set up blocks to close off the cross-shot, but at the very end… let’s shut down the line shot instead,” Kei finished and glanced around his teammates to ensure they would go along with his plan. They nodded slowly in understanding, but with how exhausted everyone was, he hoped it wasn’t asking too much to get everyone to think so far in advance.

Asahi-san served the ball, hard, but they got under it easily enough and Kei waited patiently to see where it would be sent. He knew they would need to keep closing off certain shots until the opportune time for a triple block happened when they could lay the trap. He made certain every ball spiked over was deflected, even if none of the shots were completely shut out. However, the perfect rotation for blocking was just around the corner and if they could hold out for that long, they could take it.

The perfect rotation came around right when they were at match point. Kei knew their attack options were optimized with Hinata in the back row while with three potential attackers in the front; and blocking was solid with himself, Asahi-san, and Sawamura-san in the front as well. It made up for their light ground defense with Nishinoya out on this rotation and Sawamura-san in the front; which made it clear that their blocking would have to be on point for this next play. 

Hinata served the ball and it made it over with no issues. Kei noticed out of his periphery that Kageyama grabbed the shrimp and bodily shoved him towards the left side of the court while grumbling, “hey, trade places with me!” 

Kei wondered if Kageyama was also thinking ahead now about this particular set-up as he carefully watched Shiratorizawa’s setter toss the ball to a hitter in the center. He jumped straight up instantly, getting a deflection on the quick-attack, and hissing slightly at the sudden sting of his finger where the ball made contact while he called out, “deflection!”

He heard Coach Ukai and the others on the sidelines shouting ‘free ball!’ and didn’t even need to look to know that Hinata was already airborne; ready to hit a minus tempo back-row set. Kei found himself shouting ‘get ‘em!’ right as Hinata struck the ball with his hand. Unfortunately, Shiratorizawa saw it coming and got a block up in time, but still fumbled to keep the ball in the air. 

“Line shot!” Kei yelled as he and Asahi-san jumped into the air to block off the cross-shot, opening up a lane for the line shot. Kei knew it would be rough but genuinely trusted that the shrimp would be there to receive it, even if it was Ushiwaka delivering. 

Hinata received the ball with his chest and from what Kei could tell, the hit looked like it knocked the wind out of the guy. He collapsed onto the ground briefly, letting out a groan while Tanaka-san fumbled the ball along to Kageyama, shouting, “Kageyama! Last hit! Hinata are you okay?!” 

Kei didn’t hear the answer and just assumed the shrimp was alright as he saw the ball being set to Ushiwaka again. It was the perfect moment to steer the hit where they wanted and he said seriously to his teammates while they prepared to jump, “time to stuff him.”  _ Here’s the trap. One that takes a full set, if not even longer to set up. We’ve triple blocked him dozens of times today. Every time we made sure to leave a nice, inviting path open for the line shot. Every time we made certain to have perfect timing. We never let him go over the top. By now, Ushiwaka knows that the line is the only clean, satisfying shot open to him. More than that, his body knows. _

“One, two… three!” Kei counted out the timing and they sprang into the air on the dregs of their energy, perfectly cutting off the line shot with absolutely no holes. Ushiwaka twisted midair and smashed the ball down in the only direction available to him: the cross-shot. Kageyama was there, waiting to receive the blast, and messily kept the ball in the air as if the force of it nearly knocked him down as well. Sawamura-san sprinted across the length of the court and saved it, sending it to Asahi-san to hit in a solid emergency set. Their ace smashed it down, but Shiratorizawa saw it coming and blocked. Miraculously, Tanaka-san was there to follow up and sent the ball back to Kageyama, screaming ‘free ball!’. 

Then all the crows started running forward at the same pace, in a first-tempo, five-man synchronized attack. Kei was almost too distracted by being a believable decoy to shift his focus around the court as he ran and jumped into the air; but he flicked his eyes around just in time to see Hinata joining the fray by matching everyone else’s pace. He saw his soulmate fly high into the air from the back row and relentlessly nail the ball with his hand, sending it hurtling towards the ground opposite the net. Kei followed the ball and watched it ricochet nastily off of Shiratorizawa’s libero’s arms as if it had developed an indomitable spin and simply could not be caught. The whistle blew, glaringly loud, and that was the end: they won.

The gymnasium exploded with incredulous, chaotic cheering, and Kei let out an ‘oof’ as Nishinoya-san jumped into him, hugging him around the middle. Tadashi came running over to celebrate too, and Kei spied his other teammates in similar states of euphoric disbelief that they had actually succeeded. They were going to nationals. Somehow, they wrangled everyone together, despite emotions running on high, to line up and thank Shiratorizawa for the game; then they were free to take a quick break before the awards ceremony. 

Kei excused himself to use the bathroom, leaving some of his teammates in the lobby. He took off his sports glasses and washed his face in the sink roughly. They had won, which was a little unexpected, but Kei felt mild frustration that he was only able to accomplish so little against Shiratorizawa. He heard someone come in and looked up to see Tadashi’s blurry outline, “Tsukki, the awards ceremony starts in a few..” 

“I said I’d stuff Ushiwaka a few times. Ha! I only managed to do it once! And I had five whole sets to do it!” Kei lamented quietly, feeling his frustration bubble up over the fact that Ushiwaka turned out to be such a devastatingly challenging opponent. The small things he was able to do just seemed to shrink down even further in comparison, “that’s-“

“No! That’s not dumb! Shut up! Don’t be stupid! Don’t even start thinking about your efforts like that!” Tadashi scolded him angrily, then stormed off out of the bathroom, pausing in the doorway momentarily, “besides, we don’t have time to sit around being depressed! Nationals are coming! Nationals! Oh, but the awards ceremony first. I’ll wait for you right out there..” 

Tadashi left him alone, giving him a fuzzy, genial smile before he disappeared through the door completely. Kei put on his regular glasses and gazed at himself in the mirror for a second, grimacing at his own mini-meltdown.  _ Tadashi is right. There’s no time to dwell on the fact that there are obviously better players out there. We’ll just deal with it when we play them and that’s that. Ugh, when did he get so wise? _

He left the bathroom and easily found Tadashi waiting for him a little ways away in the lobby along with Kageyama and Hinata. They were all standing around looking relaxed, happy, in their exhaustion while the shrimp spoke animatedly to a few guys that Kei didn’t recognize. The strangers must have been friends of Hinata’s, with the way they were speaking to each other so comfortably. Kei started walking over to join them, but stopped abruptly after hearing someone call out to him, “um, excuse me?”

Kei looked around at the caller and was met with a trio of undeniably cute girls, probably around the same age as himself. Kei paused, gazing at them curiously, and waited to see what they wanted.

“We, um, watched the whole match! We’re from Shiratorizawa! But, um! You were really great! I’ve never seen anyone stop Ushijima-san before!” said the girl who called out, smiling prettily at him while she spoke, “and you were injured too! Are you okay?! I can't believe you went back on the court like that with your hand all wrapped up and finished out the set!”

“Oh. It’s fine. Thank you,” Kei replied quietly. He was used to being approached by others at school, but it didn’t happen too often outside of that. He bitterly mused to himself that maybe Tadashi was right when he claimed Kei was popular, as much as he’d prefer to deny it. Getting to know people was a chore. He quickly peeked over at his friends to see if they were still busy and, unfortunately, they looked quite distracted.

“So, um, maybe.. can I have your n-number? Maybe we could go out sometime?” The girl asked, fiddling with her phone in her hands, “I’m Miho Sakura, by the way!

“Mm, Tsukishima Kei,” he returned politely, “I’m sorry, I don’t usually have spare time to go out too often…”

“Oh! That’s okay! Me neither!” She agreed cheerfully but held out her phone anyway, “there’s always a chance you’re free though, right?” 

“Uh… sure, okay,” Kei gave in, taking the phone from her hand. He typed in his number haphazardly with a single hand, then handed it back. It would be easier to surrender now and simply avoid or refuse later. Besides, he felt so worn out at the moment after that frustratingly challenging match and his finger throbbed like an annoying reminder of this neverending day. He just wanted to be done, load back onto the bus, and go home. 

“Tsukki! What are you doing? Come on, we gotta go,” Tadashi’s voice rang out suddenly as if his friend had only then realized he was trapped and needed an extraction.

“Excuse me,” Kei said, bowing his head slightly, then swiftly fled to the others.  _ Oh, thank god. I’m free. _

He joined them briskly enough, taking in their curious expressions; except for Kageyama who looked like he couldn’t care less about Kei’s whereabouts, or anything, for that matter. Tadashi ushered them along to find the rest of the teammates and attend the awards ceremony. 

The day was finally at a close, and Kei could relax, at last, settling down comfortably in his seat on the bus. He put on his headphones gingerly, carefully avoiding his injured finger, and started up a mellow playlist then gazed out the window.  _ Ugh, longest day ever. Stuffing Ushiwaka was so satisfying, even if I am disappointed I could only do it once. I don’t really even care that my finger was the price. I’m just so satisfied all that read blocking tenacity paid off. What is so satisfying about that anyway? Does this really mean I’m hooked? I guess… I wouldn’t mind doing it again. _


	10. HS

Shouyou fidgeted slightly in the quiet of Kageyama’s living room. He had asked his friend if he could stay at his place that Friday night as Natsu was having a sleepover with several of her friends and he wanted to avoid being roped into their party. Not that spending time with Natsu wasn’t a good time, but her friends were pretty intense and definitely demanded a lot of attention. There was no way he could get away with ignoring them either, so it was obvious that he needed an out. Luckily, Kageyama had agreed really easily to him staying over. After practice was done he and Kageyama, plus Tsukishima, headed to his place to study a bit.

It was a few days away from finals before the end of the year and spring nationals were right around the corner. He sighed quietly to himself, twisting the pencil around in hands endlessly, and tried to focus. Tsukishima sat next to him using a finger to point along the math problems on the page of homework in front of him while he spoke in a hushed tone, “then you just use the number you got from the previous equation for this new formula here to solve for ‘x’.”

Tsukishima shifted his weight back on the arm he was using to lounge against the table, gazing expectantly into Shouyou’s face. He stared back for a second, brows slowly furrowing in confusion, and opened his mouth to ask Tsukishima to repeat where he’d got the equation from in the first place; but stopped abruptly when the doorbell rang. 

Shouyou immediately forgot his work and glanced at Kageyama instead, who was looking blankly towards the front door but hadn’t budged otherwise from his relaxed position; leaning back on his hands with his legs sprawled out in front of him lazily. The setter then refocused on them, gave them a nonchalant shrug, and got up to see who was at the door. Shouyou watched him leave, then turned back to Tsukishima in question like he might know who’d be coming to their study session so late. Tsukishima just squinted back, “what? Don’t look at me like that, I wouldn’t know who it is.”

Shouyou was about to argue that Tsukishima could at least guess, but he noticed Kageyama was back already with someone completely unexpected.

“Great King?!” He said shrilly the moment they entered, and even Tsukishima looked mildly surprised for a millisecond as they walked into the room.

“Yahoo! Chibi-chan! How have you been?” Oikawa-san greeted genially, with a charming smile on his face. 

“G-good!” Shouyou squeaked and stared, shifting his attention between Kageyama and Oikawa-san.  _ What’s going on?! Bakayama didn’t mention he was on good terms with the Great King now?!  _

“And you, Glasses-kun?” Oikawa-san inquired politely.

“It’s Tsukishima,” The blonde replied coolly, then turned and said, “Shouyou,” 

Shouyou squeaked again in surprise at hearing his given name and all his attention was instantly honed in on Tsukishima who continued, “I think this is our cue that it’s time to go.” 

Tsukishima got up and grabbed his bag, looking like he was ready to go just like that, in a snap. Shouyou blinked for a moment, then scrambled around the table, shoving his stuff into his bag at Mach speed, and finished packing within seconds. He rocketed up off the ground and started for the door after Tsukishima, who was already heading in that direction.

“W-wait! You guys don’t really have to rush out, you know?” Kageyama said, sounding a bit anxious.

“Oh, it’s alright Bakayama! I’ll just convince Tsukki to let me crash at his place instead!” Shouyou responded jovially, trying to instill some confidence in his friend. Maybe now would be a good time for the setters to learn how to get along, since Shouyou was almost certain they still didn’t. He could kind of see why since Oikawa-san was pretty terrifying, in general. But they were soulmates, so maybe that would help in some way. It probably explained why the Great King showed up in the first place. 

“Is that so?” Tsukishima asked dryly, raising his eyebrows. Shouyou paused for a second from following him, realizing he went on autopilot. The blonde nodded briefly to Kageyama before exiting completely out the front door. Shouyou bodily leaned around the door frame, watching his soulmate not even bother to slow down and wait for him in the least.  _ Oooh, maybe I didn’t think this through…  _

Shouyou grimaced to himself then turned back to Kageyama and put on a winning smile, “don’t worry about me, I’ll convince him!” 

He heard Oikawa-san call out in a lilting, singsong voice as he sprinted out the door, “good luck!”

It only took a short jog to catch up to Tsukishima, who was stalking away down the street in a direction that Shouyou found unfamiliar. He guessed that it must be towards the other’s house, “sooo… Tsukki, pretty please will you let me crash at your place tonight?” 

“... and why would I do that? Awfully presumptuous of you to expect me to agree,” the snarky beanpole replied quietly, not even sparing a glance in Shouyou’s direction.

“Aww, c’mon! I don’t even have my bike today. It’ll take me forever to walk all the way back up the mountain now… and it’s dark out! Then I'd have to entertain Nacchan and all her friends when I got there too. Seriously, Tsukki, it would be like torture…” Shouyou pleaded, trying to think of anything that might convince his stingy soulmate to be congenial for once, “oh! How about I’ll owe ya one!” 

“One what?” Tsukishima asked, finally looking over in blatant curiosity. But the expression didn’t last long and he shook his head, saying in a bored tone, “you know what? I don’t want to know. Fine, whatever. Stop badgering me.”

“Yeeeeaah! Thanks, Tsukki! You’re a lifesaver! The best!” Shouyou cheered, bumping his shoulder into the stiff blonde’s arm purposely. Tsukishima just let out a dissatisfied ‘tch’ and put his headphones over his ears. 

Shouyou took this to mean that he was done talking now and decided to stay quiet, not wanting to ruin this opportunity by annoying him further. He knew Tsukki didn’t really seem to get along with others, regardless of his bizarre popularity and whether or not he even bothered to try. Shouyou was almost certain the latter didn’t bother to try at all.  _ Lucky! This is like a double whammy! I get to steer clear of the sleepover AND spend some time with Tsukki! Maybe I can get him to admit that we’re friends now? Hmm, maybe that’s pushing it…  _

They reached Tsukishima’s house in no time and entered quietly. Shouyou took off his shoes, following Tsukishima’s lead, and looked around the entryway. It seemed like a very warm, inviting sort of home filled with cozy decorations and walls bursting with pictures upon pictures of family. Shouyou noted in a flash that Tsukishima looked mostly unbothered in the majority of them. A blonde woman came out of a room down the hall suddenly and said, “Kei, honey, is that you? Your brother’s home from- oh! Who’s this?”

“I’m home, mom,” Tsukishima replied listlessly, “this is a teammate from volleyball club-“

“I’m Hinata Shouyou! It’s so nice to meet you Tsukishima-san! Tsu- uh, Kei and I both play middle blocker on the team!” Shouyou greeted her politely, smiling widely at the rarity of this situation.

“Mom, sorry for asking without notice, but Hinata needs a place to sleep tonight. Do you mind if he stays?” Tsukki asked quietly.

“Of course not! It’s so nice to finally meet more of Kei’s friends from school!” Tsukishima-san answered warmly, happily, “I’m making dinner now. It’ll be ready soon. Kei, honey, your brother’s home this weekend. Please talk with him if you have a moment… I know he was looking forward to seeing you this visit. He’s still worried about your hand, you know? Ease his stress a little, will you?”

Tsukki gazed back at her for a few moments, then nodded and started off up a stairway to the second floor. He didn’t bother checking to see if Shouyou was following, so the latter stayed, bringing his attention back to Tsukishima-san, “thanks so much, Tsukishima-san, for letting me stay! Can I help you with anything? I don’t want to be a burden…” 

“Oh, no, sweetie! It’s perfectly alright! Please, make yourself at home!” She answered, smiling kindly at him. She glanced up the now empty stairway before smiling even more brightly at Shouyou like she was amused by her son’s awkward attitude, “Kei’s room is the first door on the left.”

“Ahh, okay… thanks again!” Shouyou chirped, then dashed up the stairs and rapped his knuckles against the door before pushing it open, peeking inside. 

“You may as well come in. Don’t stand around in doorways like an idiot,” Tsukki remarked. 

He was lounging back on his bed, headphones firmly planted around his ears. Whatever he was listening to must have been pretty upbeat, as he was unconsciously moving a foot along to the unheard rhythm in the quiet room. Shouyou walked in slowly and took a cursory look around. Everything seemed pretty normal, if not a little snuggly fitted in: bed, desk, bookshelves, dresser, small table, floor pillows, and a shaggy rug. He looked back to Tsukki, who was very obviously trying his best to ignore the entire situation. Shouyou grinned, not really getting what the big deal was other than maybe their shared soulmate bond. But he quickly reminded himself that Tsukki didn’t know about all of that, and the frosty prince never let anyone come to his house anyway; with the exception of Yamaguchi, maybe.  _ Stingyshima. _

Shouyou sprinted over to the bed and leapt onto it, narrowly avoiding Tsukki’s lazily sprawled legs. He landed with a few jostling bounces causing Tsukki to yelp and sit up in a hurry like he was getting out of range of friendly fire, “what are you doin’?!”

Shouyou laughed brightly, “nothing! Whatcha wanna do now?... please don’t say homework…” 

Tsukki stared, taken aback with mouth drifting open slightly before he snapped it shut again, “homework.”

“Argh! Stingyshima! Fine… I really could use the help,” Shouyou admitted, begrudgingly. He slid off the bed down to the short table on the rug and yanked his bag over from where he’d flung it during his flurry to surprise Tsukki. A minute or two after he had finally rummaged through the disaster that was now his bag, he found his work from before and laid it out on the table. 

Tsukki joined him then, like he had been waiting for Shouyou to get organized first, and sat casually leaning back on his hands with his headphones still around his ears. Shouyou could almost hear a faint tinge of music coming from them, but he could have just been imaging it as Tsukki spoke up in a completely normal volume, “keep trying that problem from before and tell me immediately if you don’t get it. It’s not going to help if you waste time struggling to solve it if you don’t know how. That’s like practicing it the wrong way. It’s better to practice solving it the correct way from the beginning.”

“Oooh, alright, i-if you think so…” Shouyou replied, deflating instantly with the knowledge that he definitely didn’t get it at all from the start. He wondered to himself how he should tell Tsukki of this fact when he heard the other ‘tch’, and caught him removing his headphones to drape around his neck. 

He shifted closer and gave Shouyou a very haughty glance before tapping the paper with a finger dramatically, “solve this first. I know you know which equation to use, right? Because it’s not possible to solve the next problem without this solution first. Got it? Once you have it, use this  _ new _ equation plus your answer from before to solve for ‘x’. Honestly… I just… do you get it, or not?”

“Uh,” Shouyou stalled, really expending effort to seriously think through Tsukki’s explanation. He kind of got the gist of what was going on, but just couldn’t see how the answer was actually achieved. Regardless, he must have been staring at his page for too long, because Tsukki let out another irritated ‘tch’ and scooted even closer, hovering over half the page while he picked up a pencil. Shouyou bristled at the other’s irritation as he really was paying attention and trying his best. Math was just one of those super challenging things. 

He frowned and peeked at Tsukki’s grumpy face, muttering before he could stop himself, “what? Are you a clock now? That’s a good impression…” 

Tsukki leered back at him, clearly agitated, then poked him harshly right in the forehead with the eraser side of the pencil. Shouyou squawked indignantly, but before he could retaliate, Tsukki instructed softly, “just watch.”

His soulmate started working through the problem silently, tapping and circling important parts of the equation with little flourishes, drawing Shouyou’s eyes to them each time. Surprisingly, everything was starting to make sense, as he watched the problem being solved in front of him and it was becoming crystal clear where Tsukki was pulling all these numbers from. The latter finished, then sat back and gazed at Shouyou intently like he was patiently biding his time for something he knew would come if he just waited it out. 

Shouyou blinked, looking back into his face, a little taken in and caught off guard by the calm atmosphere, but managed meekly, “o-oh. Actually, I see it now… thanks, Tsukki.”

“Good. Then-“

There was a knock on the door and Tsukki got up to answer it. Shouyou leaned around curiously, but the beanpole blocked most of the view, “I’ll be right back. Just work through the last few problems. They all use the same method.”

He was gone a second later, leaving the door ajar behind him, but it sounded like he and whoever it was were headed downstairs with their weighty footfalls on wooden steps. Shouyou shrugged to himself and started on the work in front of him. It should be pretty easy to finish this up before the blonde came back since it was clear how to go about it now. Maybe he just understood things better by seeing them firsthand, rather than hearing or reading an explanation. 

He finished a lot faster than he anticipated, and Tsukki still wasn’t back yet. However, it had only been a few minutes. Waiting in the bedroom by himself was starting to make him feel antsy and he quickly popped up off the floor, making his way downstairs to see if he could find Tsukki. He heard some voices by the back door to the yard, just off to the side of the staircase, and recognized Tsukki talking with someone who sounded pretty similar. It took only a split-second to realize that Tsukki was mid-conversation with his older brother. The same one his soulmate had said all those complex things about a few months ago. 

Shouyou frowned and turned to leave, but overheard the elder guy say, “y’know, there’s a different look in your eyes lately. You had those training camps, and then those qualifiers matches… was it really that rough?”

“It was… normal, I guess,” Tsukki replied quietly, but there wasn’t really any hint of the usual cheekiness. It seemed more clipped, rigid.

“Uh huh, but that look on your face says it was rough. How’s your hand?”

“It’s fine now,” Tsukki answered. There was a loaded pause and Shouyou almost snapped himself out of eavesdropping, but then heard Tsukki ask his brother, “you still play volleyball, right?”

“Yep. I’m on a team too,” the other replied easily.

“Do you have tournaments and stuff?” Tsukki kept the conversation going, surprisingly.

“Yep. I play in them,” his brother said, still using that easy tone, “‘how can you still play after what happened to you in high school’ is what you’re thinking right now, right?”

There was another pause, Tsukki must have been making a face because his brother laughed and continued, “I’m still playing volleyball  _ because  _ of what happened to me in high school. Thinking back on it now makes me frustrated as hell. I can’t tell myself it was a good experience for me and move on. Plus, I looked like a pathetic idiot in front of you too. I didn’t do a thing in high school. Nothing! I was on a volleyball team for three full years, and I didn’t do one thing in volleyball that made me feel good, or feel proud. But I’d already had a taste of it in middle school. I already knew that volleyball was fun. I knew how awesome it felt to score off of a spike. I knew what the swell of pride felt like when the crowd cheered… I want to be somewhere… where I can give volleyball my best for as long as it takes until I’m satisfied.”

“Oh,” Tsukki responded lightly, but Shouyou could almost hear the smile on his face despite not being able to see it, “okay.”

“Y’know, it’s pretty impressive that you’re a starter even though you’re only a first-year,” 

“Not really. I only get to start because I’m taller than everyone else,” Tsukki said, his bored tone creeping back into his words.

“Hey. Do you have any idea how many people there are in the world who’d love to have your height? Guys who are five-five have to do a whole lot more running and jumping than guys who are six-five. When you look at it that way, that extra height is a talent all on its own!” Tsukki’s brother nagged and Shouyou was starting to develop a serious appreciation for the guy. 

“Pssh, you’re blowing it way out of proportion,” Tsukki droned, unimpressed. 

“No, I’m serious. In high school, guys’ bodies aren’t done growing, and they’re still working to master basic skills. That’s exactly why when you get a guy who’s a super ace or a guy who’s super tall, they can decide whole games all by themselves.”

“You can’t call me  _ super  _ tall, though,” Tsukki snarked.

“Hey! I’m trying to say that height itself can be a potent weapon, okay?!” The brother griped, “geez! When did you get to be such an un-cute brat?”

“Do you seriously want to call someone over six feet tall ‘little’ and ‘cute’?” Tsukki asked dryly.

“Snarky, little brat!” 

Shouyou stuffed his knuckles in his mouth to prevent himself from laughing at their sibling infighting. He slinked away, feeling a bit guilty that he had stayed and listened to that conversation; but he was happy to know that Tsukki was able to have a chance to really listen to his brother.  _ I kind of wonder what happened between them still, but they wouldn’t talk like that if things were really as bad as Tsukki made it seem before. Or maybe the situation just mellowed somehow.  _

He wandered down the hall stealthily, getting closer and closer to a delicious, enticing, scent that filled the air. Peeking around a corner, he found the kitchen.

“Hinata-kun! Come in, come in! I just finished this up. You have good timing!” Tsukishima-san called out sweetly.

“Oh! Thanks, Tsukishima-san. Please, can I set the table for you then? Tsu- Kei was helping me with some homework, but he uh, disappeared. Oh! But I finished it all up, no problem! Anyway! Can I help you?” Shouyou fumbled.

She laughed and smiled at him genially, “okay sweetie, the plates are up in that cabinet. Kei’s dad is at the office late tonight, so it’ll just be us, Kei and Akiteru.”

Shouyou nodded in understanding, then quickly zipped around the kitchen and dining room, setting things up for dinner. A moment later, he finished up the task and the brothers came into the kitchen too.

“Hmm? Kei! You didn’t tell me you had a friend over. I didn’t mean to keep you from them… Hi there! I’m Akiteru!” The guy gave a polite bow, and Shouyou returned the gesture swiftly.

“Hi! I’m Hinata Shouyou,” he fidgeted, remembering the private conversation he overheard and putting that voice to a princely, handsome face just like Tsukki’s, “nice to meet you, Onii-san!”

“Hah! Wow! I haven’t heard that so cheerfully in forever! I wouldn’t mind if you kept that up, really! But you can call me Akiteru if you want, Shouyou-kun,” Akiteru-san said happily like he was genuinely pleased with Shouyou’s slip up.  _ Ah! Whoops! Tsukki, how are you so cool when your brother’s so warm?! _

“O-oh, okay!” He replied while Tsukishima-san came over with dishes and gestured for everyone to sit down to eat. The boys followed her lead and soon everyone was seated and digging into their meals.

“So, whatcha guys up to tonight? Where’s Tadashi? I haven’t seen him in a while either, other than your match, of course.” Akiteru-san asked casually, taking a bite of rice.

“Hm? Well, you’re not home often enough to catch him, I guess,” Kei responded blandly, poking his vegetables idly, “he had plans with his parents tonight.”

“Did you see our match against Shiratorizawa, Akiteru-san?! Ughhhh I wish I could play the whole thing again, it was so crazy! Ushiwaka’s amazing with the way he just hits that ball like wha-pow!” Shouyou added, maybe a bit too enthusiastically as some of his food slipped off his chopsticks and landed back on his plate. 

He noticed Tsukki pull a face and groan out of the corner of his eye. But he didn’t really mind that as he was more interested in talking about their match with someone who saw it from the stands.

“Ahh! Now I know why you’re so familiar! You’re that zippy number ten! Yes, I went to your match! You were awesome! I can’t believe you blocked that one ball from Ushiwaka from behind the other blockers like that… well actually, it was more of a close-range receive, right? If you think about it? Ah! Kei! You missed it because it happened right before you were back, but this guy jumped right into the path of one of Ushiwaka’s hits, and totally deflected it right back to their court and scored. Haha! The looks on their faces, they were so surprised. Ahahaha- oh, but I guess we all were. That was pretty impressive, taking a powerful hit like that so close to the net… and no offense, but you’re not the biggest guy on the court, y’know? How long have you been playing, Shouyou-kun?”

“Ahhhahaha! Well…” Shouyou laughed nervously, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, “I already took the ball to my face like, five minutes beforehand… so, why not? I guess? I’ve only been on a real volleyball team since this year, high school. Back in middle school, we didn’t have a team, so I started one up by myself! I kinda got some of my friends from the soccer team and basketball team to play sometimes, and then we had some first years join eventually and finally had just enough people to participate in the tournament! But we ended up facing off against a really strong team first thing… ugh, Kageyama, actually… and totally lost. Anyway! I worked really hard to get into Karasuno for high school because that’s where the ‘little giant’ went and I saw a match on tv once and he was amaaaaazing! I wanted to play like that, too! I’m not that good yet, but I will be one day!”

“Ah, man, that’s rough. I know what you mean about the ‘little giant’ though! He was really good! So talented for being on the short side for the sport. I knew him in high school!” Akiteru-san said, smiling vaguely like he was reminiscing. 

“What?! You knew him?! That’s sooo coool!” Shouyou beamed at Akiteru, getting even more riled up at this news, “oh! You’ll have to tell me what he was like on the court! Did you play any matches with him? How did he tool the block so easily?”

“Haha! I have no idea! But he was actually a pretty mellow dude, from what I remember. But he could really fly. I mean, of course he could since he was the ace,” Akiteru-san kept up that faraway expression, beaming back at Shouyou.

“Uwaah! Aces are so cool, seriously. Mellow, though? Hnn… I’m not sure I could pull that off. Something like…” Shouyou adopted a cold, indifferent sort of expression, crossed his arms, and leaned back in his chair slightly, “yeah, I could spike a ball to the moon, no prob.”

Akiteru-san and Tsukishima-san laughed brightly at his silly stunt while Tsukki cringed, turning towards him and staring incredulously until the others stopped laughing. Shouyou just stared back at Tsukki, kind of hopeful that he’d laugh at the admittedly terrible impersonation too, but that must have been wishful thinking.

“Hinata-kun! You’re so cute! Honestly, Kei, why don’t you bring your friends over more often? I feel like I’ve been missing out now… and you know how much I love Tadashi, too. Who else have you been hiding from us, eh?” Tsukishima-san asked while still laughing lightly. Shouyou dropped his act in surprise and shifted his attention to Tsukishima-san. He watched her sigh with that kind smile still lingering on her face; then he snuck a peek at Tsukki, who was facepalming, skillfully hiding his true feelings behind his hand.

“Anyway, Kei, you’re tutoring now? Hinata-kun mentioned you’ve helped him. That’s nice, when did you start doing that?” Tsukishima-san followed up, smiling softly at Tsukki. 

“Hm… since the pipsqueak ace wanted to pass his exams and go to the Tokyo training camps,” Kei answered, sounding mildly annoyed. 

“Ah! I’m so grateful though, Tsukki! You’re so, so smart and I’m doing a lot better at remembering all the hard stuff after you explain it to me, really,” Shouyou praised him sincerely, leaning forward on the table in his eagerness for Tsukki to understand how helpful he had been. However, the latter looked mortified at the praise like he couldn’t bear to be complimented in front of his relatives. 

“Pfft!” Akiteru laughed again, leaning forward in the table too and resting his cheek in a hand, “who knew my baby brother was so sweetly accommodating?”

“Alright, I’m done. Thanks for dinner, mom,” Tsukki said abruptly, standing up and grabbing his plate, “hey, shrimp, you look done too. Let’s go.”

Shouyou gazed at him blankly for a moment, wondering why he was retreating when his family was so nice, but sprang up from the table and followed Tsukki anyway. They put their dishes in the sink then headed back upstairs to Tsukki’s room. His soulmate sighed and collapsed on the bed moodily, jamming his headphones on. Shouyou sighed too, but pressed on and moved towards the grump, plopping down on the bed next to him. 

“What?” Tsukki asked after a minute or two of pointedly avoiding Shouyou’s gaze. 

“Nothin’, I just can’t figure you out,” Shouyou answered quietly, brows furrowing.

“... and why would you need to figure me out?” Tsukki replied, peering back with an unreadable sort of expression that Shouyou couldn’t make heads or tails of. 

“Hn. ‘Cause we’re teammates. Friends, right? Why wouldn’t I want to understand my friends?”

Tsukki just continued to peer back silently, then looked away while he shuffled to the edge of the bed, “I’m going to go take a shower first. You’re welcome to use the bathroom too if you want. There’s no lifeguard though.”

Then he got up, gathered some clothes from a dresser, and left. Shouyou gaped at the door Tsukki had left open again, and distinctly heard the shower start up from the room directly across the hall.  _ Yep. I guess I can’t get him to admit anything.  _

Shouyou flopped backward on the bed, letting himself laze a bit in the stillness. He sat up a second later and took a good look around, curious to see what he’d discover now that Tsukki wasn’t there watching him like a hawk. There was apparently a lot to see, including a bookshelf full of thick books that looked like some sort of encyclopedia set along with novels, comics, music CDs, and DVDs. 

He shifted his focus over to Tsukki’s headphones, which were laying innocently on a pillow, still attached to the MP3 player. Grinning to himself, he snatched them up and popped them on his head, excited to get a hint of what the beanpole listened to all the time. A tap of the play button revealed some sort of foreign rock music that Shouyou didn’t recognize at all, and he peeked down at the screen to find playlists upon playlists of differing music. He squinted at the English letters for a second longer, then hit the pause button again and took the headphones off, carefully placing them back on the pillow.  _ Well, that’s not surprising, I guess. _

He got up and stretched, reaching his arms up above his head for a moment, then walked over to one of the bookshelves to check out a little object that caught his eye. After taking a closer look, he saw that there were actually several little dinosaur figures. He tilted his head at them and poked one gingerly before he distinctly heard the water shut off from the shower and something else drifting through the closed bathroom door. Unconsciously, he moved towards the sound as it almost sounded like a melody, but there was really no way Tsukki actually sang in the shower.

However, the closer he got to the bathroom door, the more it became undeniable that Tsukki really was singing just beyond it. Shouyou grinned widely and leaned against the door, trying to hear the soft, smooth notes just a bit better.

Suddenly, it opened and Shouyou yelped in surprise as he fell forward into the bathroom, “whoaaauwwaah!” 

Tsukki swiftly caught him by the shoulders, grasping around them gently to prevent him from meeting the ground. Then his soulmate righted him, and gave him a very dubious look that wordlessly questioned ‘what are you doing?’ Shouyou blanked for a moment as he took Tsukki in, realizing that Tsukki was already dried and dressed from head to toe; even though his hair was still a little damp.  _ Aw man, he’s all covered up! I thought that maybe he’d slip up again and expose his tattoo. Ugh. What am I thinking? Is it bad that I wanted another look? I’m probably just making him mad again... _

Shouyou snapped out of his thoughts and explained, rapid-fire, “Ah! I thought you were done! S-So I was just coming to see if it was my turn, that’s all! Nothing else!”

Tsukki just scoffed, letting go of his shoulders, and said blandly, “sure, it’s all yours.”

Shouyou bowed, and slipped past him, closing the door behind himself. He leaned back against it for a second, taking a deep breath to calm his reeling mind before pushing off and getting undressed to hop into the shower.  _ That’s not suspicious, right? He doesn’t know we share that bond. Nah… he’s so opinionated on everything, there’s no way he wouldn’t say something.. and he’d probably just tell me no right off the bat, right? He still doesn’t like me very much, I don’t think… He’s doesn’t talk about the soulmate stuff so much either, other than to piss off Bakayama. It makes me wonder what he thinks about the whole thing though..  _

Shouyou blinked and realized he was already back in Tsukki’s room, having a bedroll shoved into his arms. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he’d gone through the motions automatically. Coming back into reality again, he recognized that Tsukki was saying something to him in that calm, soothing tone he used when he wasn’t full of snark. It was kind of relaxing, grounding, and easy to hone in on regardless of the fact that he wasn’t actually taking in the other’s words.

“-since it’s kind of last minute. But Tadashi hasn’t ever complained, so it should be fine.”

“Huh?” Shouyou slipped out, gawking blankly at Tsukki. The latter squinted at him cynically, then pushed on the bedding deliberately like he was making sure Shouyou was holding on before letting go completely. Shouyou let out a small ‘oomph’ at the sudden weight of it all.

“You can use that to sleep. Seriously, did you rinse your remaining brain cells down the drain?” Tsukki asked, his serene tone replaced by salt.

Shouyou soured and he undid the bedroll with a lazy swish before tossing himself onto it haphazardly, “no, I was just thinking.”

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Tsukki remarked, laying down on his own bed casually.

“Hnn.. whatever, ya French fry. But really, thanks, Tsukki… for letting me stay over tonight,” Shouyou said, staring up at the ceiling.

“Wouldn’t want you to get lost on your way home in the dark and fall off the side of the mountain, I suppose,” Tsukki intoned.

“Aw, c’mon, Tsukki… your mom and brother are so sweet. How are you so salty, huh?” Shouyou griped at him mildly, saying the last bit more to himself. The other just laughed, and Shouyou thought for a second that it wasn’t nearly as jeering as usual. Shouyou took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly and said, “hey, can I ask you something?”

“Hm?”

“I… um… saw you talking with those girls, after our last match,” Shouyou began, then stopped himself. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to navigate this conversation casually enough without talking about the soulmate phenomenon and giving everything away; which he still didn’t want to do. But he was itching to know what Tsukki thought about these kinds of things, especially since he always saw the guy getting approached by random girls. Although, usually it was just at lunchtime at school and not post-spring-nationals-qualifiers-matches. He hadn’t noticed how much he’d actually been paying attention to Tsukki’s popularity, and the fleeting acknowledgment of that was a bit jarring.

“Where is the question?” Tsukki asked dryly.

“O-oh! Right! So, are you dating one of them now?” He decided to just stick to straightforward questions and avoid getting sidetracked in his own mind.

“... and when would I possibly have time to do that?”

“Haha! Right… ‘cause practice… and school… and nationals soon!” Shouyou chirped back, then asked a little more seriously, “but what if she’s your soulmate? Wouldn’t you want to know? She was pretty cute…” 

When Tsukki didn’t answer right away, Shouyou panicked slightly, turning his head to catch a glimpse of the other. Tsukki was just laying back with his hands behind his head, scrutinizing the blank ceiling above. 

“I’m not… putting effort into thinking about that right now,” he finally answered, listlessly. 

“Hmmmm? I see,” Shouyou responded quietly, “I guess… me neither?”  _ Well, maybe.. I can’t tell. Maybe I just lied.. crap. _

Tsukki let out a bored hum and put his headphones on, looking like he was done being interviewed, but Shouyou asked anyway, “can I ask you another thing?”

“Hm?”

“I’m unsure, actually… about all of that. All the time. Well, more like, when it pops into my head anyway. Which is like, ping!... and sometimes bomp! When I’m not thinking of it and then suddenly I am,” he rambled, then finally asked, “What do you think about the phenomenon?”

“Hm… to be determined, isn’t it?” Tsukki said lightly. 

Shouyou paused for a beat, squinting at Tsukki’s headphone-laden profile, “Oh. Yeah. I guess it is, huh?”

“I think it is,” Tsukki reiterated quietly, “‘night.”

Shouyou gazed at the other’s face a few seconds longer, then shifted his eyes back to the ceiling. It was strange how he got answers out of Tsukki so easily. On the other hand, they were so vague that he wasn’t sure if it really counted as a solid answer. He closed his eyes, thinking of his own answers too and how honest he was being with himself about the whole situation; maybe he would have to admit to himself that he was starting to get caught up in the idea of getting even friendlier with a certain blonde beanpole who secretly sang in the shower and collected tiny dinosaur toys.  _ What am I even doing? I should be focusing on volleyball. Nationals. _


	11. TK

Kei stood stiffly, staring straight ahead of himself and using absolutely all of his mental capacity to ignore the radiant ball of energy standing right beside him. He had been invited to a special first-year volleyball training camp hosted and run by Shiratorizawa and Johzenji school’s coaches. The gym at Shiratorizawa was large, well maintained, and now filled with a dozen or so talented first-year players from around the prefecture. 

At a practice about a week ago, Takeda-sensei had informed the team that Kei and Kageyama had been invited to specialized, week-long training camps right before spring nationals. Hinata was obstinately disappointed that an invitation hadn’t been given to him as well, but Kei didn’t think the shrimp would even think of crashing one of the camps.

However, there he was, beaming at the coaches while they checked off the list of attendees from various schools around the prefecture. Kei grimaced and snuck a sideways glance at the guy, witnessing him look so excited that he might start levitating with all the pent up energy exuding from him. It didn’t help that the other players were looking over at the pair of them now too, unmistakably matching in their black, Karasuno jackets as the coach finished his survey and called out that Hinata wasn’t on the list. Kei kept up his straightened posture and went back to staring ahead of himself, deciding that perhaps the best course of action was to simply pretend he didn’t know Hinata. _Ignore him, he’s a stranger. I don’t know who he is. I don’t know what he’s doing._

“Oh, hey!” Another player who had blonde dyed hair with a goofy, black stripe in the front said genially, “it’s Karasuno’s number ten!” 

This was apparently enough to set off the other players and they started whispering amongst themselves things like, ‘who?’, ‘the insane quick set guy?!’ and ‘wait, he wasn’t invited, was he?’. All that unceremonious attention was enough to nudge Kei over the edge through sheer second-hand embarrassment. He closed his eyes and took in a subtle, deep breath, trying to calm himself. It didn’t seem to do the trick this time around, unfortunately.

He turned to Hinata sharply, glaring down at him, and snapped, “how freaking stupid are you, you idiot?!”

Hinata gazed back into his face somewhat blankly like he didn’t understand Kei’s viewpoint in the least before he replied, “well, I didn’t want to get arrested.”

Kei furrowed his brows minutely and frowned while he peered down at the other. _Get arrested? Wait.. wait a minute, hold up.. did this idiot overhear me joking with Tadashi that he should crash the camp since he mentioned he was jealous that Kageyama got to be trained by one of the Olympic team coaches?! I was being sarcastic!_

“Still, how does that equate to you coming _here_ of all places?! Are you saying that if there wasn’t any threat of arrest, you’d have gone to Tokyo for the All Japan Youth Camp?! What kind of warped hamster maze do you have for a brain?! You..” Kei scolded him harshly, starting to become so frustrated that he was running out of words for the situation, “you.. aaauuugh! You stupid idiot! Seriously! Stupid idiot!”

Hinata stared back like a deer in headlights while one of the guys from Seijoh commented monotonously, “someone’s got a limited vocabulary…”

“Wow, I didn’t know Karasuno’s four-eyes could spaz out like this…” another turnip-head looking guy added. 

Kei’s fizzled out lecture didn’t last long as the Johzenji Coach snagged Hinata by the arm and directed him away. It looked like they were going to meet with the rest of the coaches and decide what to do about their brash interloper.

Kei crossed his arms, then closed his eyes and gently rubbed his temples with a hand, trying to soothe a budding headache. He decided to go back to ignoring the situation, but heard the commentary from the others anyway, “man, can you believe he actually crashed this camp because he wasn’t invited?”

“I totally thought he was some middle school kid. I’d never have guessed if I hadn’t seen his jacket.”

“I know, right! He looks even smaller in person than he does on the game videos!” Another from Johzenji added, gleefully. Kei squinted at the group of them appraisingly, then shifted his eyes to some others he sort of recognized from Seijoh, Datekou, and Shiratorizawa who were also chit-chatting about Hinata’s boldness; but they had a slightly different take.

“The hell? What’s wrong with the shrimp joining us, huh? He’s small, he’ll fit.” The spiky-haired guy from Seijoh mumbled. 

The newbie ace from Shiratorizawa was nodding and muttering in return, “this time I’ll beat him…”

“No wonder Aone-san respects him. He’s on a whole other level,” That goofy, blonde dye-job guy added in as well, looking bizarrely impressed.

The door to the gym opened loudly then, drawing everyone’s attention, and the tiny, elderly head coach from Shiratorizawa entered. Players from his school shouted a polite greeting while the coach from Johzenji and Hinata followed after him. Kei raised an eyebrow at the shrimp’s presence as he was almost certain the coaches would have sent him packing for his stunt.

“I’m sorry everyone! For interrupting practice!” Hinata shouted abruptly, bowing deeply. Then he popped back up and shouted out, “my name is Hinata Shouyou! I’m a first-year from Karasuno, and my position is ballboy! Thank you for having me!” 

Kei peered at him darkly, completely floored by this news. _Ballboy? Even I would admit that we only defeated Shiratorizawa because of the ridiculous amount of points Hinata scored during that match… is this some kind of joke? Is this some kind of deranged, petty payback for winning against Shiratorizawa?_

He didn’t have any more time to dwell on the weird turn of events as the coaches began talking to the players about working together to learn new tricks and get the most out of the camp. They were instructed to pair up with someone they didn’t know and begin drills to start. Kei found himself being approached by that tall, Datekou guy with the bad hair.

“I’m Koganegawa! How about it?” The guy asked brightly. 

Kei was starting to get serious Hinata-esque vibes from the guy, but he ignored it and answered, bowing slightly to be polite, “Tsukishima, sure.” 

They walked over to the net and Kei stole a glance at his soulmate who was standing over near some other Shiratorizawa guys first-years. They looked like they were assigned the task of ballboy too and Kei didn’t remember seeing them in the starting line-up or even on the bench for their team during their most recent match. They seemed nervous with shocked expressions worrying on their faces while they spoke to Hinata and Kei smiled to himself derisively. _Yes, we’re all surprised he’s staying. What, exactly, is he expecting to get out of this? Isn’t he at all embarrassed by any of it?... you’re in the starting line-up on your team for a reason, don’t you think?_

The drills went along pretty smoothly, though he found himself stealing furtive glances at Hinata every so often, even with a distracting partner. Just as he thought, Koganegawa was bordering the line between excitable and obnoxiously energetic. He turned out to be brand new at the setter position and was clearly working out some kinks in his playstyle. Kei almost had some difficulty keeping tabs on Hinata with how chaotically the giant setter moved around the court; like he was a newborn giraffe just discovering his legs. Yet something kept drawing Kei’s eyes towards the shrimp, regardless of whether or not it split his attention and made the drills a little more challenging. 

The crotchety head coach called for them to start spiking drills a few minutes later and Kei noticed Hinata bee-lining over like a well trained Labrador. 

The coach folded his arms across his chest and remarked, “ballboys don’t belong over there.”

Hinata immediately turned tail and went back to his ballboy duties, “yessir! Sorry, sir! I got confused for a sec, sir!”

Kei frowned at the entire interaction, feeling supremely conflicted like he was being pulled in two very demanding directions at once. On one hand, the shrimp brought this nonsense upon himself and therefore should reap the consequences. But on the other hand, Kei had a hard time reconciling with the fact that the head coach clearly had some sort of caustic agenda. 

Kei refocused as it was his turn to spike. He ran, jumped, and slammed the ball down across the net then ducked under it to retrieve it from Hinata who had snagged it for him as a ballboy would.

“How was that?!” Koganegawa shouted enthusiastically, clearly seeking feedback on his toss.

Kei looked over his shoulder at the guy, “hm? Not bad, I guess.”

“C’mon! Gimme more than that!” The giant setter complained.

“Uh, it was a bit high?” Kei replied, taking the ball Hinata held out to him.

“I dunno, looks like you got up to it anyway…” the shrimp commented quietly, only pretending to be minding his own business. Kei gazed down at him with a soured expression, then walked away to spike the ball again. 

A few minutes later, Kei tuned back into Hinata as he and the other ballboys were sprinting around the court, catching spiked balls before they got underfoot. Shrimpy snatched the ball up nimbly, skirting around a player, and Kei heard the head coach gripe at him, “watch whatcher doin’! It’s dangerous to have balls bouncing underfoot! Catch ‘em right, ballboy!” 

“Yessir!” Hinata chirped and started zipping around in even more of a frenzy. 

But not even a full minute later, the coach was nagging again, very obviously directing all his commentary at Hinata specifically, “keep yer eyes open, nimrod!”

“Yessir!”

Kei scoffed a soft ‘tch’ and approached for a spike. Koganegawa had set the ball a little too high again, forcing him to put a little extra power in the jump to achieve the appropriate height. He smacked the ball down swiftly then landed.

“How was that?!” Koganegawa asked excitedly.

“Hm? Oh, still a bit high,” Kei replied, peeking over at Hinata for the nth time in the past hour. The latter was simply completing ballboy tasks more and more fluidly like he had always known exactly what was required of him in this position. But Kei knew that wasn’t the case as Hinata had admitted recently that he hadn’t even played on a real team before high school. It was apparent that his middle school volleyball experience didn’t count for that much, since his lack of basic skills constantly caused Kageyama to gripe at him. Kei wondered for a flash of a second how the freak duo were actually friends. But maybe that sort of dripping criticism just sort of slid off Hinata’s shoulders as if he were wearing a raincoat. He didn’t even look disheartened that he was being singled out as a ballboy; Kei started to wonder if his soulmate even realized that he was being targeted by Shiratorizawa's head coach in the first place. _Resilient simpleton._

The rest of the day flew by with the constant drills, small scale practice matches, and getting used to working with players from other schools. It was a lot as Kei didn’t really want to attend the camp in the first place and only agreed because Sawamura-san strong-armed him into accepting the offer. All of the exhaustion from the day was really weighing down on him at this point and he wished he could just use his headphones to distract and stave off the day's annoyances. 

He started to leave out the gym door but found himself taking one last peep at Hinata beforehand and saw him practicing volleyball drills alone. He hadn’t been permitted to join the others for practice at any point during the day; the head coach seemed hell-bent on preventing that from happening, at least. It was obvious that the shrimp was trying to recoup his loss even in a paltry way. Kei groaned and searched the ceiling, hanging his head back for a moment to steel himself before walking over to the small fry, “ugh… hey!”

Hinata paused but didn’t turn around from his crouched posture from picking up a stray volleyball he had just misserved. His countenance seemed a little stiffer than usual like he was caught red-handed and unsure how to escape intact. 

Kei frowned, starting to get wound up again by the other’s brazen stupidity, “would you get ready to leave already? Unlike Kageyama’s, this camp isn’t an excused absence. We have to be in class tomorrow.”

“Tsukishima… san,” Hinata said, strained and still refusing to look in Kei’s direction, “I.. uh.. I’m so sorr-“

“Ew! Do _not_ apologize to me. It’s disturbing. I mean, it isn’t as if your boneheaded, brainless impulsiveness is anything new,” Kei snapped for the second time that day. Hinata let out a small noise of frustration, still refusing to look back at him.

Unable to stop himself now with all those little annoyances nibbling away at his patience, Kei continued in a low mocking tone while pointing an accusatory finger at the other, “what? Upset that you didn’t get to practice at all today? And whose dumb fault is that, hmmm? If you hate it that bad, why not go crying to Coach and tell him you quit? Anyways, have fun in your new position as ballboy. Try your best not to utterly waste a precious five days' worth of practice before the spring tournament.” 

Kei could tell by his profile that the shrimp was pretty indignant at this point, his expression lit up with an odd amalgamation of feelings. Despite all of that angst, he could have used to pick a proper fight with Kei like he thought he would, Hinata fled the gym shouting, “argh! Dammmmmmmmmnit!”

Kei stared after him for a moment then smirked to himself. While he knew it was childish to antagonize his teammate, the whole day’s exhaustion had bested his better judgment at the moment. Besides, he knew that Hinata was the vigilant type, usually spurred on to prove himself in the right when provoked. At this point, Kei didn’t want Hinata to give up on the camp, being of the opinion that the shrimp should follow through with his choice no matter how dumb it seemed to be. There was always the possibility the guy would get something out of it; maybe it would curb some of his impulsivity at least. 

The second day began similarly to the first with one very distinct exception: the third-years from Shiratorizawa appeared in the gym about an hour into practice. The head coach welcomed them and informed all the players that it would be a ‘privilege’ to practice with these top tier alumni. Kei grimaced, the memory of Karasuno’s match against Shiratorizawa still relatively fresh in his mind and he could almost feel a fantom twinge of his pinkie finger. _Ugh… yeah… privilege…_

They were told to form up a team as they were going to be playing a practice match against the third-year, powerhouse players. Kei wasn’t surprised in the least when he glanced around and spotted Hinata mingling with the Shiratorizawa third-years; he had a knack for getting into tight spots with rival players. The shrimp was shifting around guiltily and Kei squinted at him, realizing he was so shifty because those third-years including, Ushiwaka and Tendou, were expecting him to play in the practice match too. Kei put his hands on his hips and blatantly watched Hinata danced around the subject of how he crashed the camp, which resulted in the guess-monster cackling loudly for a solid minute. Kei had kept his distance, not close enough to really hear their conversation, but his soulmate had an awkward-looking exchange with Ushiwaka, then was called upon to refill water bottles by another player.

Their practice match against the third-years began soon after and proved to be just as exhausting as the real match had been; with the added bonus of playing alongside others that Kei simply didn’t know. 

He stood off to the side of the court during a break, drinking water. The third set against the third-years had begun and he was luckily out of this rotation, being granted a small reprieve. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and panted slightly, feeling his pulse begin to slow and regulate again from the rest. Almost completely by chance, his eyes caught on Hinata’s figure across the gym. The latter was hanging up damp jerseys to dry but also staring so intensely at the players on the court that Kei imagined they might spontaneously combust. 

Kei squinted at him, scrutinizing his soulmate’s keen intensity. Ushiwaka was up the serve a moment later and it was as if Hinata was waiting for it specifically; eyeing one of the other school’s liberos who was positioned to receive the cannon blast that would surely be heading that way any second. Kei peered at the players and distinctly saw the shrimp shift and purposely move into a specific position once Ushiwaka smacked the ball over. It ricocheted off of the libero's arms and flew directly into Hinata who caught it like he had known it would be there. 

Kei couldn’t take his eyes off of Hinata who was in a grounded crouch, thighs straining from the force of stabilizing himself in order to catch a powerful serve like that. Hinata moved the ball away from his face, giving a very self-satisfied smirk at the super ace across the net. However, the impressiveness of the receive was hampered immediately by a small trickle of blood leaking down from his nose; he had partially received the ball with his face. _What was that maneuver? When did he pick up floor defense positioning strategies? Don’t tell me he learned that just by watching these guys here and now?!_

Kei continued to watch, his expression melting into one of mild disgust at Hinata’s antics as one of the Shiratorizawa ballboys ran to the shrimp’s aid with some tissue. 

“I get that feeling from him too,” a bored sort of voice droned from next to Kei.

“Hm?” Kei answered, turning to the person and finding one of the guys from Seijoh. 

Kei’s mind supplied ‘Kunimi’ while the latter spoke up again, “you look disturbed.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Kei said quietly, then shrugged, regaining his own bored composure and turning back to watch the players on the court.

“I felt that way too when I first came across that guy in a middle school tournament. Energy with reckless abandon,” Kunimi drawled, also monitoring the set with nearly non-existent interest, “must be exhausting to see every day. So, Kageyama’s _there_ , right? Since he’s not here?”

“Hmmm…” Kei hummed in response, wondering briefly what this guy’s deal was and deciding to ignore his commentary on Hinata, “yes, the King got invited to All Japan.”

Kei saw Kunimi smirk at the nickname out of the corner of his eye and paused a beat before verbally prodding him, “he’s taken though, apparently. Sorry, were you interested?”

“Hah! No way in hell storm. I was just fact-checking for a friend, really,” Kunimi answered with a breath of a laugh, “I’m familiar with who he’s dating. No thanks.”

“Ugh. Aren’t we all?” Kei remarked, taking a sip of water then folding his arms across his chest casually. 

Kunimi idly shifted his eyes to peer at him, “so what’s your deal? You don’t seem too thrilled to be here.”

“Pot meet kettle?” Kei intoned.

Kunimi shrugged, “I like volleyball, but I’m not going to waste all my energy running around like an idiot. Seems like we might be on the same page.”

Kei hummed again and nodded, not caring if the other saw his response or not. Kunimi continued in his lazy drawl a moment later, “that receive just now was actually pretty good. He’s a monster, that one. My friend’s kind of into it… is he seeing anyone?”

Kei’s mind went blank for a moment in surprise at being asked about Hinata’s dating availability. He glanced over at Kunimi with narrowed, suspicious eyes, “I don’t know. But I doubt it. He’s most definitely a volleyball simpleton.”

Kunimi hummed in response, “hmm, how about his soulmate? Most people go for that, anyway.”

“I… don’t think he’s discovered his yet. So, no… why are you asking me? Wouldn’t it be better to ask him?” Kei asked, incredulous, and felt that dissatisfied expression creeping up on his own face again. 

“Haha!” Kunimi laughed lazily, peering over at Kei’s face, “you’re making that face again. It’s kinda cute. Hmmm… you’re right though. If he’s interested, he should just ask the guy himself. I’m not sure why I’m even bothering, to be honest. Ah… I kinda just want to help him out though, I guess.”

Kei furrowed his brows at the other, feeling completely thrown by this guy, then asked in a flippant monotone, “I’m sorry, did you just call me cute?”

“Mm, it is though. That annoyed sort of face you make,” Kunimi replied, tilting his head sluggishly, the corners of his mouth drifting upwards, “how about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

Kei stared back at him for a beat, noting Kunimi’s armband around his bicep that was blatantly covering a tattoo, then turned his attention back to the court nonchalantly, “hmm… I was, sort of… but not anymore. I take it you don’t follow the soulmate phenomenon?”

“I’m not their type,” he replied simply, “wanna go out sometime?”

The situation was all too obvious to Kei; Kunimi was avoiding the phenomenon entirely and doing what he wanted. Which was fine, naturally. But all of it was moot as Kei wasn’t interested in dating this guy. Especially as a means of evasion. Despite the sound reasoning, the whole conversation felt like a slap in the face. _Do I want to date anyone? It hasn’t been that long since I was close with Tadashi like that… my mind is screaming at me ‘no’, but why not? Kunimi is pretty attractive. His tone says he’s dating out of avoidance though, that seems somewhat troublesome._

“Hmmm… we can exchange numbers, I suppose,” Kei answered quietly, in sheer rebellion of himself. He didn’t know where this impulse to refuse Kunimi was coming from, but he didn’t like it. 

“Hey!” Hinata chirped happily, suddenly popping up next to them, balled-up tissue sticking out of a single nostril, “it’s time for another set, you guys are up!”

Kei gazed at him, his eyes training intently on that tuft of tissue, and the shrimp visibly squirmed under the scrutiny, “i-it’s from the ball… Tsukki? Are you okay?”

“Hm? Why wouldn’t I be?” Kei responded dryly then walked away to take position on the court, jostling Hinata’s shoulder with a hand on his way past. He could feel Hinata’s eyes following him, singeing his entire being and he wondered if he would catch fire too. 

About an hour and a half later, practice finished and there would be a little bit of time before the camp provided dinner. Everyone was still milling around, stretching, talking, or grabbing their stuff. Kei grabbed his gym bag too and fished his phone out of the side pocket, wanting an excuse to check out. He scrolled idly through social media, not really seeing anything of importance, and noticed Kunimi sidle up next to him, phone in hand.

“I was serious earlier,” he said blandly, “how about it?”

“Yeah sure, whatever,” Kei replied, snagging the other’s phone from his outstretched hand and putting in his contact information. He tossed it back lightly, then went back to perusing his own device. 

“Yo, yo!” Koganegawa’s loud, cheerful voice rang out to them, “come practice with me! C’mon, pleeeeeease! Just a little bit!”

“No thanks,” Kei intoned in tandem with Kunimi, who was also still staring at his phone.

“You sure picked the wrong guys to ask… I’ll join you though,” the other guy from Seijoh, Kindaichi, called out while walking over to them.

“Ooh! Oh! Can I block for you, please?” Another guy said, but Kei couldn’t remember where he was from.

“Sure,”

“What? Doing some extra practice?” Hinata piped up. Kei looked up from his phone, curious to see if Hinata finally found some people to practice with; instead of running around after stray balls and burning holes into the back of heads with his solar-beam gaze. The shrimp added after a beat, “I’ll catch balls for you, if ya want.”

“Uhhh… sure,” Kindaichi replied, sounding slightly nervous. Kei raised his eyebrows and continued his silent, critical survey. It seemed like Hinata barely waited for the ‘go-ahead’ before he rounded on Goshiki from Shiratorizawa who was in the process of packing up his things into a gym bag.

“What? Aren’t you gonna join us?!” Hinata asked loudly.

The latter looked affronted, “why would I?!”

Hinata just moved forward into the other’s personal space with that terrifyingly determined expression, “‘cause I wanna see that super awesome laser-beam line shot of yours again! The one you can slip past blockers even when they think they’ve shut off the line! You’re all like, ‘haha! Ba-bam!’ How do you do that?”

Goshiki flinched backward slightly at Hinata’s genuine flattery, looking quite taken aback. _Ah.. there he goes again. Just naturally buttering people up. Doesn’t he ever think for a second before he says things like that? That spiker probably thought he was going to declare war or something._

“Pfft,” Kei let out a breath of laughter that no one heard, probably. 

“W-what, is the line shot the only one you wanna see?” Goshiki answered, but he looked like he was holding back.

“Oooh! A cross too!” Hinata added excitedly.

Goshiki nodded solemnly, barely withholding a supremely pleased looking grin from his face but not quite succeeding. Kei rolled his eyes and leaned back against the gym wall, refocusing on his phone. Kunimi joined him, commenting blandly, “your teammate’s not going to spike? How interesting.”

“I don’t even want to begin to try and understand how his brain works, it’s like a black hole, I’m sure,” Kei relayed through an exasperated sigh. He glanced at Kunimi who was nodding slowly in acknowledgment and staring at his phone. _I get the impression we’re a bit too much… alike? I don’t think we’d work out… What type of person would I want to date anyway?_

The third day of practice felt like it flew by with drills and practice matches. Despite being kept busy and distracted, Kei felt a niggling irritation whenever he spied his soulmate floundering around after volleyballs. It became clear with any solid amount of time spent looking, that Hinata was improving in his movements and positioning on the court at an exceptionally rapid rate. Barely any balls escaped his grasp at this point, no matter what kind of practice spike they came from. Kei frowned to himself, ducking under the net to switch sides for a set, and eyed Hinata suspiciously while he was lost in thought. _Of course, Hinata would run on instinct alone and figure out a way to make this camp work for him, even if he’s only allowed to stay as a ballboy out of spite. Incredible. I’m so irritated… ugh, I hate this. Watching Hinata flail around… makes me feel like I need to do something too._

He waited patiently for the others to take their positions too, still eyeing the shrimp, who was now standing off to the side of the court with Kindaichi. The Seijoh rival spoke up somewhat abruptly, “hey.”

Hinata looked over at him in question then Kindaichi continued, “why are you doing that?”

“Doing what?” Hinata asked in return.

“Like… I dunno… you’re acting pretty desperate,” Kindaichi fumbled a little.

Hinata gazed at him in polite confusion, but things must have clicked because the look faded and his face brightened like the sun coming out from behind clouds, “well, I decided that I’m gonna be the one who beats Kageyama one day!” 

Kei raised his eyebrows at the pair of them, not that they were paying any attention to him anyway, but it seemed like Kindaichi shared his sentiment. He stared back at the shrimp in surprised disbelief. Hinata didn’t seem to notice the freshly tensed atmosphere, but added to the drama by clenching his fists like he was winding up to go off, “but at this very moment, he is in the process of becoming Japan!” 

Kindaichi stared at Hinata with that same stiff, surprised disbelief, but then smirked haughtily, “what, is Kageyama still the pinnacle to you? Hah! Yeah, he’s good and all, but who knows? Maybe he’s getting beat around like a piñata at that youth camp.” 

Hinata stared into the other’s face, but his exact emotions were a bit indiscernible. Kei couldn’t decide if Kindaichi would win any favors with that line of thinking when it came to Shrimpy. It was an interesting attempt though, and he immediately connected the dots that this was the ‘friend’ Kunimi was referring to earlier. Kei watched them for a moment longer before he heard the whistle signaling the start of the match. _It doesn’t bother me. It’s of no concern to me whatever Hinata decides to do. It’s really none of my business at all._

The day ended swiftly after that with several distracting notions swirling around in Kei’s head about everyone’s natural attraction towards the sun. Maybe it would be for the best to practice against him too and test those new positioning reflexes; since he couldn't seem to shield himself from those blinding rays either. Besides, with them being on the same team, he had to know how to fully utilize Hinata’s new abilities for blocking purposes. All of the excuses in the world started to get heavy, sinking deeper into the crevices of his mind while he found himself approaching Hinata with a volleyball in hand. The shrimp was crouched, picking up and sorting practice jerseys, prompting Kei to call out, “... hey.”

“Yeah?” Hinata asked, looking over his shoulder casually. 

Kei gazed down at him, “come with me for a sec.”

Hinata gaped back, dazed with his mouth drifting open dumbly. He looked away, then looked back again seeming even more bemused than before like he couldn’t believe Kei was actually standing there asking him for anything. _Ugh._

“That double-take was unnecessary, thank you,” Kei snipped.

“What do you want?” Hinata asked with an edge of suspicion.

“Blocking practice. As long as it’s outside of official drills, nobody will get mad if you do something other than catch balls.” Kei grimaced, “not that I’ll force you or anything-“

“Tsukki’s joining us!” Hinata ecstatically yelled across the gym to Koganegawa, Kindaichi, Goshiki, and those two Shiratorizawa players who were acting as ballboys during the camp. The others seemed mildly shocked by his appearance and willingness for extra practice, but Kei didn’t really care what they thought about any of it.

“Awwwright!” Hinata cheered. 

“Gonna play carrying those?” Kei asked quietly, glancing at the bunched-up jerseys cradled in Hinata’s arms. 

“Ack! No!”’ He squawked and hurriedly finished putting them away.

They positioned themselves around the net with Kei, Kindaichi, and Koganegawa on one side blocking while Hinata and Goshiki prepared to hit on the opposite side. The Shiratorizawa ballboys agreed to set the balls for the hitters so they could really get in some solid spiking and blocking opportunities. In a flash, one of the guys set the ball high and easy, and Kei watched Hinata take off in a sprint up the court. He jumped high into the air and Kei jumped too, trying to catch him to block, but the other was a bit too fast and unpredictable. Hinata slammed the ball down like lightning past Kei’s splayed fingers. 

“Ooooh!” Koganegawa said in awe of the lightning-fast punch of an attack Hinata landed right off the bat. Kei scoffed and noted the serious, daunted looks from Kindaichi and Goshiki. Clearly, they had been on the receiving end of that strike to form a sour opinion about it.

“Wow Hinata-kun! I thought you were a libero?!” One of the Shiratorizawa guys exclaimed, just as awe-inspired as Koganegawa. 

“W-What? Really? I look like a libero to you?” Hinata asked, looking very pleased, “do I really look that good at floor defense?”

“What? No, not really!” 

“Yeah! I thought not…” Hinata replied, a little strained. Kei let out a small chuckle, knowing Hinata was hell-bent on learning floor defense now that he hadn’t been permitted to participate in spiking drills for nearly a whole week. 

“I’m gonna block too,” Kindaichi said suddenly, looking grim.

“Me versus two middle blockers?!” Hinata piped up happily.

“If you’re gonna hit, then I’m gonna roof you!” Kindaichi said, staring down Hinata through the net. 

“Oooh! Me too, me too!” Koganegawa shouted, joining in and standing next to Kindaichi and Kei across from Hinata.

The shrimp looked extra excited for the challenge, but gazed up at them all blankly for a second, mumbling, “you gotta be kidding…” 

Kei grinned sardonically, knowing Hinata would have a hard time smashing a ball past a six-foot-three triple block. But then Goshiki stepped up to them with a look on his face that clearly said ‘it’s my turn’ and he ran up to spike a cross shot instead of the shrimp. Kei leapt into the air, noting in irritation that his block height was actually the shortest for once. But that didn’t seem to matter a moment later after Goshiki sliced the ball down in a sharp line shot, right past Koganegawa. 

The newbie ace looked extraordinarily pleased with himself and Hinata shouted, “great shot!” after easily catching the ball like he knew it was going to be there. 

The others, however, landed back down in a mix of confusion; since it appeared like Goshiki was going to hit a cross-shot, but didn’t.

“That was Koganegawa’s fault. You didn’t set the edge. Line shot was wide open,” Kei said dryly, peering at the giant setter. 

“But it totally looked like he was going for a cross-shot!” Koganegawa complained.

“I thought so too…” Kindaichi added, baffled. 

Kei tilted his head at them slightly and shrugged while they continued arguing. _To be honest, I thought he was going for a cross too. He even angled his approach like that was exactly what he meant to do. He’s good… Koganegawa’s good too… I heard he hasn’t been playing that long. But he’s at Datekou. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that he isn’t jumping randomly… and the shrimp… how did he know Goshiki would hit a line shot? It’s like he knew instantly and was there to snatch it up. Did Goshiki tell him? Or did he see something… what did he see?_

“Hey, Tsukki,” Hinata’s voice broke through Kei’s wandering thoughts, and he turned to look at the other.

“Can I ask you something?” Hinata asked, “you weren’t, y’know… figuring that I must really want to hit some spikes by now… so you decided to say you wanted to practice blocking as an excuse to y’know, lemme hi-“

“No,” Kei cut him off bluntly.

“Thought not,” Hinata replied, but kept gazing at him with another indecipherable expression before he walked off to grab a ball. Kei simply watched him, now wondering if he had subconsciously fallen into that sort of trap. _We’ll be going up against very high-level teams at nationals. The tactics and back and forth between hitters and blockers are going to get more complex. Setting aside whether or not Hinata can plan anything resembling a real strategy… I can’t deny that he’s a hitter capable of seeing blockers clearly. I’m definitely going to practice against that._

“Ooooh hey! I wanna put up that one where the hitter’s all like ‘zoom’ off to the right!” Koganegawa exclaimed, eagerly looking to Hinata for approval. 

“You mean a front slide?!” Hinata chirped back.

“Yeah! That one!” Koganegawa agreed. Hinata beamed back at the giant setter, looking like he’d be more than pleased to do so. But if they spent any amount of time on practicing specific spikes, they’d never actually get around to blocking practice. Kei was acutely aware of Hinata’s innate habit of latching onto an idea and hyper-focusing on it until he literally ran out of energy. 

“The peanut gallery will now shut up and hit fours for us,” Kei said monotonously, with just an edge of ‘or else’ hiding in the tone.

“Yessir!” Hinata squeaked, then took up a good approach distance from the back of the court, waiting for Koganegawa to toss the ball, “here I come!” 

Kei smirked at him from across the net, knowing where that tingly, vibrating thrum in the air was radiating from. It was almost invigorating at times. Kei started to muse whether or not the others could feel it too and that was part of the reason why Hinata could draw people in like moths to a flame.

It was weird, almost, seeing that hidden talent repeatedly through the camp so far; the camp that he wasn’t invited to, yet making an even greater impact than some of the top tier players that were invited. None of that was very surprising to Kei, however. 

It was nearly the last day of camp already and they were up to their ears in work output now that the coach from Johzenji was having them play two-versus-two matches against each other. Kei had just finished his match and stood off to the side, sweating profusely, and trying to rid himself of it with a towel while he watched Kunimi and Koganegawa score the winning point against Kindaichi and Hyakuzawa. 

Kei hadn’t really taken any extra opportunities to talk with everyone from the other teams, but he was surprised that Hyakuzawa seemed to only have been invited based solely on his six-foot-five stature. Anyone watching his two-versus-two sets could see that the guy lacked a decent amount of technical skills as he was new to volleyball. 

Kei pushed his glasses up off his face to wipe his eyes for a moment, then let them slide back down and Hinata appeared directly in front of him. The latter had been passing around water to everyone after their sets and now he was extending a bottle, smiling brightly, “here, Tsukki! Nice set!”

“... thanks,” Kei replied, and watched the shrimp bound away to Hyakuzawa, offering him water as well. The giant guy took the water from his seated hunch and glared at the ground. 

Kei wasn’t sure he heard correctly, but it sounded as if Hyakuzawa said, “I wish it’d been you and not me who got invited here.”

Kei draped the towel around his neck, yanked up the water bottle cap, and squinted at the Goliath of a player as he addressed Hinata. He looked strained like he hadn’t meant to confess such a thing out loud.

“Whoa, whoa…” Hinata replied easily, resting his hand on his chin in serious contemplation, “you got it wrong. You wish it was me and you who got invited together, right?”

Hyakuzawa furrowed his brows slightly in confusion and stared up at the shrimp who was still posturing like he was considering all the facts, “everyone here is super awesome in some way or another, after all. In your case, it’s obviously because you’re awesomely huge and tall. I will admit though that without Kageyama around setting for me, I’m uh… just a little? Just a teeny bit? Uh… inconvenienced and not quite able to display my full awesomeness. But be that as it may…” 

“I’m just big. That’s it,” Hyakuzawa admitted. 

“Augh! Hold it! Hoooold it! What do you mean, ‘that’s it’?!” Hinata squawked, “you! What are you?! You’re six and a half feet tall! That’s freaking awesome! If somebody said I could either have your height or Kageyama’s killer serves right now, I’d take your height in a heartbeat! The serve I can get myself if I just practice hard enough. But there’s no way to practice yourself taller! Anyway! Being that super-duper tall is the bestest... Amazingest! Most incredible talent there is!” 

Hinata spilled all of that out in nearly one, unhinged, excitable breath and Hyakuzawa looked rightfully shocked. 

Kei wondered idly if he’d have to intervene before the sun swallowed up the Goliath in his gravity as he did with everyone else. But instead, he remarked calmly, “encouraging a rival? Well, somebody’s confident.”

“What’re you talking about?! I’m chewing him out!” Hinata snapped back indignantly. 

“From here it looks like you’re trying to cheer him up,” Koganegawa put in, staring at them curiously.

“Huh? R-really? Well…I guess if it works out that way in the end, that’s okay,” Hinata said, deflating from his previous bout of hot air.

“What do you get out of making me feel better?” Hyakuzawa asked, looking back into Hinata’s face. 

“Lots! I wanna play you again and beat you!” Hinata said, smiling back at him with that intensely determined, deranged expression he wore every once in a while. Kei thought it was spooky; an expression like that on a pipsqueak like Hinata. He frowned, glancing around, and noted everyone else seemed a bit on edge as if Hinata had directly challenged them all. But the shrimp didn’t seem to notice and crouched down next to Hyakuzawa, muttering something or other about the guy trying out a ‘special technique’ during the next set. _Ugh, and the gravitational pull continues._

“That’s… a lot,” 

Kei tore his gaze away from Hinata and Hyakuzawa, landing on Kunimi who had walked over along with Kindaichi.

“Yeah, but he’s kinda,” Kindaichi started to say, but immediately stopped short and looked away from the others.

“Watch out, you could get burned,” Kei said quietly, shifting his eyes from Kunimi to Kindaichi, then back to his soulmate and Hyakuzawa. He didn’t know why he said it or gave any sort of opinion at all since it wasn’t his business. But maybe that’s how he felt about it as well, getting too close to the sun and burning to a crisp from that radiation.

The special technique Hinata had been whispering to Hyakuzawa turned out to be a stunningly straightforward and simple solution to compete with the fast pace rallies of a two-versus-two match. During the last match, Kei found himself playing alongside Goshiki against Hyakuzawa and Kunimi, and the ball seemed like it was accelerating across the net with a mind of its own. Hyakuzawa was clearly having trouble keeping up, but Hinata suddenly shouted across the gym, “Hyakuzawa! Just take it easy!”

Kei glanced at his soulmate, wondering what he meant exactly, but didn’t have to wait long at all to see the answer. Hyakuzawa got under the ball and set it so high Kei imagined that it could touch the vaulted ceiling of the gym. Everything suddenly made sense, and he paused, being free to take a deep breath since the ball was falling so slowly from that great height. Everyone else seemed to pause too and Goshiki had plenty of time to get in the perfect spot to receive Kunimi’s incoming hit. He bumped it back to Kei easily enough and he spiked it down. Kunimi got under it then sent it to Hyakuzawa. 

It was a bit high and way too close to the net, but Kei immediately realized that with Hyakuzawa’s vast reach, he would have no issues smacking the ball down. Kei took a millisecond to decide whether he should block the ball or try to dig it instead. He made up his mind and jumped to block. It was the right call with his hands easily getting in the way of the ball’s trajectory, getting a deflection, and he turned around in time to see Goshiki fling himself forward to save it messily. Then the ball was sailing back towards Kei and he hopped into the air to set it neatly for Goshiki. The newbie ace smashed the ball down harshly, scoring the winning point. Kei huffed a few labored breaths, glad it was finally done. Goshiki didn't seem nearly as tired as he shouted triumphantly, “yeeeaah!”

Kei huffed in exasperation at the guy, put his hands on his hips, and hung his head back while he waited for his breathing to even out. 

“Tsukishimaaaaa…” Hinata called out, looking supremely disgruntled, “nice set.” 

Kei straightened up and peered back at him, “what’s with that face?”

“Seeing you actually make a nice set for once got me really pumped but at the same time made me really jealous!” Hinata relayed through gritted teeth like he was at war with himself. 

Kei just peered back, analyzing that backhanded compliment paired with that petulant expression, before replying dryly, “thank you for that unnecessarily detailed explanation… and it wasn’t _that_ nice of a set.”

Hinata’s face fell instantly into blankness as if Kei had accidentally pushed the reset button, “but… it really was, Tsukki. I can’t do that.”

“Yet… I doubt that will stop you,” Kei responded without really thinking about it, simply stating undeniable facts. It must have been a hard reset earlier as the shrimp stared back at him with that same vagueness for a second or two longer than usual. Instead of orbiting the sun another excruciating moment, Kei rolled his eyes and walked away to snag his water bottle; it was probably better than waiting around for Hinata to come back to earth.

Luckily, the last thing on the camp agenda was a final match against Shiratorizawa’s third-years once more, then they were dismissed after a few encouraging words from the coaches. Kei meandered away from Shiratorizawa towards the bus stop with the others from Seijoh and Datekou.

“Ah! I’m so glad this camp happened! It was so awesome!” Koganegawa said happily, bouncing on his feet as he walked. 

“You guys were awesome! Just jumpin’ all vooooom and then pow! And wham!” Hinata chirped back excitedly.

“Right?! Right?!” The giant setter agreed, though Kei had trouble deciphering what to, exactly. 

“Uhh.. Hinata, listen…” Kindaichi said abruptly, slowing down his pace, “can I, uh, ask you something?” 

Whatever that was going to be, Kei had no interest in overhearing it. He gave the shrimp one last, fleeting glance before continuing onward towards the bus stop. Koganegawa and Kunimi followed along and they reached it a few seconds later. Kei checked his phone for the time, then was just about to pop his headphones on when he heard someone call out to him, “Tsukishima-kun!”

He froze, then lowered his headphones back around his neck as some girls approached them. The same girl who had called out spoke up again, and Kei suddenly recognized her from the spring qualifiers finals. She was the one who pestered him into giving out his number, “hi! Oh wow! It’s so random to see you again..here? If I would have known you’d been around our campus, I could have given you a tour! Are you transferring?”

“Hm? No. I was here for a volleyball camp…” Kei replied politely, nodding to her in greeting. 

Out of his periphery, he could see Koganegawa’s eyes pinging amongst the girls in interest while Kunimi looked incredibly smug with a little smirk playing on his lips. Kei internally groaned, not wanting to deal with this type of situation now; especially after a long, draining camp.

“Aw! Hey! By the way, you never gave me a new date suggestion for when we could go to that cafe I was texting you about! Did you think about it? I swear, they have the best little macarons ever!”

“Ah-“

“-and besides, Bakayama really lets me go there,” Hinata and Kindaichi finally caught up, interrupting the conversation with their intrusion. The pair stopped and looked around at everyone else, realizing they just walked right into something. Kei idly wondered if anyone else thought the air seemed thicker than usual at that moment as he spied the bus pulling up too.

“Oh my, what bad timing,” Kei said calmly with a pleasant smile plastered on his face. He shifted his attention along the others, his gaze ending directly on his soulmate scapegoat; then he casually moved closer and clasped the latter’s shoulders from behind, “don’t you need to hike Mt. Fuji to get home? We should really be going, then… another time, maybe,“ he nodded briefly to the girls, then physically steered Hinata away and onto the idling bus. 

He guided the shrimp all the way to the back then released him and flopped down into a seat. Letting out a slow breath of air, he turned his focus out the bus window, trying to ignore what had just happened. But it didn’t seem possible as Hinata idled in tandem with the bus, standing next to the seats and squinting at Kei. He had knit his brows together in clear confusion at the whole scene and stared for a second or two longer, then slowly sunk down into the seat next to Kei. The latter peeked around at him, noting that the others from the camp had also boarded the bus and were making their way to find seats in the back too. 

“Tsukki… what the heck was that all about?”

“Nothing,” Kei intoned, then swiftly put his headphones on. He selected a random playlist and let it drown out the world, washing away any feelings that were ebbing in its wake. A muffled buzz came from his pocket and he took out his phone, dreading to see if it would be that girl again.

**_New chat message with Kunimi_ **

**_Kunimi Akira 5:43PM :_ **smooth 

**_Keisaurus 5:43PM :_ **whatever.

Kei flicked his eyes up to a few seats ahead where he saw Kunimi sitting next to Kindaichi. The guy was already gazing back at him with that lazy smirk on his face.


	12. MA

The gymnasium was busy with noise from the crowds, players, and the slapping of volleyballs on synthetic floors. It was the first day of the national spring volleyball tournament and Atsumu lingered up in the stands without any of his teammates, scouring the courts below for someone specific. It didn’t take long to pinpoint the subject of his interest: that raven-haired, quiet, obliging, genius setter from Karasuno. Atsumu smirked, seeing the newbie ‘crows’ take up the middle court for warm-ups. 

He leaned against the rail and analyzed the rival setter thoroughly as the guy was an interesting sort of puzzle. He’d heard rumors of the guy being a nightmarish, demanding, ‘king of the court’, but that’s not what he’d seen at that training camp just a few weeks prior. The stoic guy almost seemed overly considerate and flexible with others at that camp which was the complete opposite of the rumors; despite his blunt, anti-social attitude. 

On top of all that, he had that interesting soulmate situation too. Atsumu was honestly floored when the surly setter confessed that he had not only found but was dating both of his soulmates. He was almost more interested in seeing how that worked out than he was in the guy’s setting skills; especially after meeting those soulmates at the end of the All Japan Youth Training camp. They seemed like they were pretty interesting too. He’d maybe admit that he was a little envious that the other had found them and went for it even in high school. 

Needless to say, Kageyama Tobio was fascinating and Atsumu was very much inclined to keep an eye out for him at any opportunity. He watched Tobio put up balls for his teammates during warm-ups for a moment longer, then decided to search along the rest of the team for that pretty, silver-haired boyfriend who was supposedly on the team too. 

“‘Sumu, whatcha doin’ over here?” Osamu called out, shuffling over and leaning against the railing like Atsumu.

“Nothin’, just checking out Tobio-kun’s team,” he replied easily, gliding his eyes along the crows. 

“Again with that? Geez, just cuz he said he don’t wanna be a wing spiker.. seriously, who cares what position he plays?” His twin said, rolling his eyes and peering down at Karasuno too, “well, which one is he then?”

“Number nine,” Atsumu replied, his focus lingering on number two for a second before raking across the others. 

He immediately snagged on something surprising: a smaller player who was springing around the court completely barefoot, “hey, check that out, that lil’ dude’s smaller than Kourai-kun!.. and it looks like he lost his shoes! Hah!”

“Heh? Is he a ballboy? What’s he doin’? That’s weird,” Osamu commented, leaning forward and squinting.

“Haha! Maybe Tobio-kun isn’t the only interestin’ one in the bunch!” Atsumu leaned closer over the railing and squinted too, mimicking his twin. 

He scanned the little guy’s movements as he snatched the balls left and right from his teammates’ practice spikes. A flash of color winked by as he saved another ball, causing Atsumu to narrow his gaze even further at the other’s bare feet. He could have sworn he saw something really familiar for a split-second.

“Twins!” Coach called out, and they both quickly looked over at the man, “Get over here, we’re finding seats as a team now. The others have already found a good spot more towards the middle so we can monitor all three courts at once. Remember, we don’t know who our opponents are for tomorrow yet, so we’ll be watchin’ the progress of each match today.” 

Atsumu nodded in tandem with Osamu but didn’t budge, quickly looking back at that tiny number ten. Unfortunately, it looked like the latter had found his shoes and was putting them on in a flurry while he talked to another unknown teammate. Atsumu frowned and leered down at them for a moment longer before he felt Osamu grip his shoulder, encouraging him to move. 

They found their way back to the rest of the team and settled down to watch the games, but Atsumu knew he’d have some difficulty focusing on the other two courts when it seemed like a lot was going to be happening on center court with the crows. _It wasn’t that familiar, was it? Nah. Well, maybe? The odds of that would be so astronomical… hahaha! ASTRO-nomical! That’s good!_

The rest of the matches were pretty entertaining, but Atsumu was right in spotting Karasuno’s flair. The team floundered a bit at first and he thought it was probably because of Tobio’s unfamiliarity with the large gymnasium, but it didn’t take long for him to adjust. Then the real beauty of those extraordinarily precise, quick, perfect sets blossomed. Atsumu watched them closely, knowing that he could probably emulate most of them if he wanted to. 

The real shock came in the form of that spunky number ten. As soon as Tobio clearly got a handle on the bright lights and tall ceiling, he snapped a quick set so fast to the left, Atsumu wondered how anyone would be there to hit it at all. But instantly, out of nowhere, number ten appeared and absolutely railed the ball down the opposing team’s throat. 

“Whaaaat? That totally ain’t the way he looked back at camp… geez that guy’s almost scary…And who the heck is that?!” Atsumu complained, watching Tobio argue with number ten as he bounced around the court looking wildly giddy after scoring off that spike.

“I guess, not a ballboy, then?” Osamu answered, following his brother’s gaze, “they’re behind though and messin’ up a lot.. who knows if it’s important that we know who that runt is…he’s got some major hops though…”

The icing on the cake for the day was that Karasuno ended up winning that match, despite starting off on unsure footing; and that meant that their next opponents would be Atsumu’s team, Inarizaki.

Just the next day, Atsumu stood around in the lobby by the gymnasium entrance with Aran, waiting for a few of his other team members before heading into the gym for warm-ups. He peered around the busy space, watching people hurrying around to get where they needed to go and caught a glimpse of black jackets. A moment later, Karasuno passed by, most of them filtering into the gym without a second glance. But luckily, Tobio happened to stop along with that silver-haired number two, zippy number ten, a tall, glasses-clad blonde, and a kind of mousey, freckled guy. 

Before anyone had a chance to say anything, Osamu wandered over as well, looking curiously around at the Karasuno players. 

Atsumu watched Tobio pause with his mouth slightly open like he wasn’t sure who he was about to talk to; as if Atsumu had just summoned a body double. He’d seen that sort of stumped expression hundreds of times before, whenever he met new people who didn’t realize he had an identical twin brother. 

Tobio blinked and did a funny little bow towards both Atsumu and his twin then muttered, “Uhh… good… game.”

Atsumu grinned, peering back at the rival setter while the pretty, soulmate boyfriend let out an amused ‘pfft’ and put his hands on Tobio’s shoulders consolingly. 

“Uh, Tobio-kun? You’re makin’ it real obvious you can’t tell us apart,” Atsumu commented, grinning widely at the other’s flustered attitude, “ooh! Right, right! ‘Samu was sick last time so he ain’t on the video of our last match!”

“There’s two! Whoooaaa!” Number ten said suddenly, drawing Atsumu’s attention away from Tobio and his soulmate. The little guy was staring at the twins disbelievingly and he looked like he was about to rub his eyes to check that he wasn’t just seeing double. 

But the tall blonde loomed closer to number ten and clearly gave him prod to the back to start moving, saying blandly, “c’mon, warm-ups. Remember what Coach said about timeliness?”

Number ten just nodded slowly, still seemingly transfixed, but started shuffling away along with that blonde and the other quiet crow. Atsumu watched them go for a split-second, inadvertently thinking of that tiny flash of color on flesh from before. He shivered abruptly while he followed them with his eyes, but snapped out of it as Tobio bowed again to the correct twin this time and wandered off into the gym too with number two in tow. Atsumu watched them go for a moment, seeing the silver-haired guy whisper something in Tobio’s ear as they walked. Even from the distance, Tobio seemed to light up from whatever the other had said and Atsumu could have sworn he saw a smile on the stern setter’s face. _Argh! They’re just so interestin’! I want my soulmates too, damnit!_

“Well, they don’t seem too tough… and you said that short-stack was a hitter?” Aran spoke up and Atsumu turned his attention to his teammate, seeing that the other was watching them retreat as well.

“Nah, I heard the announcers say he was a middle blocker,” Osamu answered instead.

“What?! Middle blocker?! How?!” Atsumu gasped out, completely surprised. 

“Yah, that’s what they said… weren’tcha listening?”

“Wow, that is surprising… that blonde guy being a middle blocker sounds ‘bout right, but not number ten. I don’t remember seeing him doing a ton of blocking yesterday?” Aran commented.

“Hah! Well, it doesn’t matter what Karasuno’s doin’. We’re after Itachiyama this time. The Tokyo teams like to think they own this tournament. It’s time we showed ‘em,” Atsumu replied, smirking. 

Osamu shrugged and started to head into the gym too along with Aran who was smiling back at Atsumu blandly. He followed them after a beat to meet up with the rest of the team and begin warm-ups. They probably weren’t going to last too long as the match on the court they’d use was finishing up quickly. 

Atsumu started for his gym bag to change into his jersey top, and almost couldn’t help but veer away towards Tobio and number ten as they were passing a ball back and forth to each other. Atsumu stopped short and stared, incredulous, as number ten got hit in the face with the ball instead of passing it back to Tobio.

“Hinata! You idiot! Shrimpy dumbass!” Tobio shouted. 

Funnily enough, the small guy didn’t even seem to notice the verbal barrage as he simply stared off into nothingness like he was actually far, far away. 

Atsumu laughed and called out to the pair, “heya! You look like you’re gettin’ real into it!”

“Hello,” Tobio replied calmly, glancing back around at him.

“So, how ya been Tobio-kun? Doin’ good?” Atsumu asked lightly, smiling, “I’m really hopin’ you go all out today, m’kay? Cause there’s nothing I hate more than having to waste my time playing against losers.” 

He smiled a little wider and shifted his attention from Tobio to ‘Hinata’, who was already staring back with a scary sort of focus; it was a stark contrast from the space cadet expression he wore only a few seconds before. _Haha! Who takes a ball to the face during passing anyway? Maybe he’s not all that good after all. But yeowch that focus now… it kinda burns._

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Tobio said politely.

“Hey! What are you apologizing for, Kageyama?!” Hinata griped in agitation.

Tobio seemed to ignore the little guy, “but I’m not a loser.”

“Oh, I know. I know.” Atsumu replied, smiling and nodding in agreement.

“ _He’s_ a total loser though,” Tobio commented dryly.

“Did you have to say that out loud?! Argh!” Hinata squawked.

Tobio continued, ignoring his teammate once more, “but we don’t suck at all, so I don’t think you have to worry.”

Atsumu smirked and gazed back at them while Hinata gave his setter an appreciative thumbs up. _So funny. I hope he’s right, I really wouldn’t want to waste my time otherwise. I guess I’ll keep an eye on that lil’ squirt too._

Just then, Karasuno’s manager came into the practice gym and informed everyone that the main court was ready for their game. 

Only a few minutes later, Atsumu strode over to the end of the court, volleyball in hand, and ready to serve. He had a good feeling about serving today, or maybe it was simply that he loved that he was peerless with it. However, it was the same old ruckus in the gymnasium as usual. Whenever they had a match, nearly their entire school roster showed up; including the marching band. Everyone was so rowdy like it was a massive party and he was the entertainment. All that fuss sort of irked him when he was on the court though. 

The whistle blew for the serve, but Atsumu barely heard it over the roaring noise in the stands. He frowned and raised his hand in the air, then closed his fist sharply. The stands went silent. 

He took a breath, mentally marked the perfect spot, and tossed the ball high into the air. He went after it, hearing an obnoxious ‘Oooooooole!’ before he smacked it with great force, sending it hurtling towards the endline of the opposing court. It slapped the floor loudly right between two of Karasuno’s players who were frozen and barely budged from their original positions. 

The crowd went wild again and Atsumu jerked his head around to see where the offending squeal from earlier came from. He laid eyes on two fangirls holding heart-shaped fans with his and Osamu’s names written on them. Frown deepening, he shot them a dirty, threatening look. _Don’t interrupt my serve again, you oinkin’ pigs!_

The whistle sounded again for the second serve and Atsumu mirrored his last attempt exactly, but those fangirls must have distracted him enough because the toss got away from him slightly. He felt it drift just a smidge too much, resulting in it nailing the court right behind the endline with shouts of ‘out’ from Karasuno’s players.

“Gaaaaahh!” He moaned, complaining to no one in particular; he was usually his own worst critic anyway. 

“Lame,” Osamu commented, looking back over his shoulder at him haughtily.

“Can it!” Atsumu griped back, “tch, my serve toss got away from me…”

Karasuno was up to serve with their samurai guy, however, it bashed right into the net. It seemed decently powerful though and maybe Karasuno had a few good servers as well as aggressive hitters. 

Atsumu faintly heard the commentators chatting about how this match might end up being a ‘battle between setters’ while Gin served. The ball sailed across the net and was bumped to Tobio. Atsumu watched him send the ball in a snap to the middle of the court where suddenly, a person was there already. It was almost as if the guy teleported as he flew through the air, way higher than Atsumu had seen before. To top it off, the squirt looked absolutely, blazingly exhilarated as he let that ball continue on its beautiful arc unperturbed. It landed with a few soft, bouncy thumps next to him on the court. 

Immediately, the small guy threw his hands up to cover his face, muffling his frustration, “aaarrrrrgh! I completely forgot to hit the ball! And it was put up just for me too! Agh! What a waste!”

“If you can’t do them both at the same time, don’t even bother, dumbass!” Tobio growled back at him.

“Did he just say he _forgot_ to hit the ball?” Aran asked quietly.

“That’s what I heard too,” Suna replied, gazing through the net at Hinata suspiciously. 

Atsumu eyed the squirt too, wondering what he meant by ‘forgot to hit the ball’. It seemed strange that Tobio would accommodate someone who was that incompetent. _Wait a sec… does that mean the jumps we’ve seen so far ain’t the highest he can go?_

“Is he seriously experimentin’ while playing us?” Osamu asked, also peering at Hinata through the net.

“I figured Tobio-kun for the kind of guy who marches to the beat of his own drum… but it looks like this kid is just as bad,” Atsumu speculated, more so to himself. 

The next serve was received by Karasuno pretty easily and they sent it back over. Atsumu saw that Suna was in a great spot to bump it, but it seemed like a waste of a perfectly good opportunity. He hopped right in front of Suna, fluidly got under the ball, and zinged it over to Aran to hit. _Ah, who needs to waste efforts on a first-touch when I’m right there anyway?_

“Nice one!” He called out to his teammate for the swift spike.

“Don’t surprise me like that!” Aran nagged back, clearly a little on edge that he was able to respond fast enough to hit the ball on a first-contact set. But his teammate’s reactivity worked out regardless of their surprise, as he scored a point off that tactic.

“Whoopsie!” Atsumu replied, smiling blandly at his hitter.

Suna served again right after, but it was bumped by their captain. The ball went a bit long like it was going to come back over the net, but Tobio jumped up to set it anyway. Atsumu watched as the opposing setter whirled around mid-air and smacked the ball directly into Osamu and Omimi’s block. It rebounded off their splayed hands, got picked up by Karasuno’s libero, and went back to Tobio to set again. 

Atsumu wondered who the latter would send it to now and quickly shifted his gaze around the opposing players to check their positioning. He spotted Hinata gasping ‘ah!’ at Omimi, then like a rocket, blasted off across the length of the net to the opposite side of the court. He sprang into the air like it was nothing and smashed the ball down. It pinged off their court so rapidly that Atsumu nearly had trouble following it. Apparently, Tobio had sent it to the squirt just assuming that he would miraculously be there to nail it. 

“Yeow!” Atsumu breathed out, taken in by that lightning-fast slide attack. _Man! That lil’ dude can really whap that ball! The speed and quickness to leave the blockers in the dust all without losing a millimeter of height!_

“That was soooo coooool!” He muttered, staring at Hinata through the net, “seeing it up close in person makes it even cooler!”

Atsumu glanced around to Osamu to see if he agreed or not, but the other was just peering back at him, unimpressed, “why is it that whenever you’re in a game your mental age regresses by like, five years?”

“Zip it!” 

The whistle sounded for the next serve, drawing Atsumu’s attention across the court to Tobio. He heard the drums of his school's band creating a quickly accelerating tempo and saw the stern setter make a face as he smacked the ball forward. It flew towards Inarizaki’s side, ricocheting off the net and Akagi-san managed to pick it up, barely. It went back up into the air with minimal height. Atsumu followed it with his eyes, lunged forward, placing his foot down in just the right spot, and smoothly jumped into a perfect setting position. Even from the super awkward position on the court, he knew his hitter would get there, and sent it zinging to Omimi. The latter spiked the ball down sharply, scoring the point for Inarizaki. _Ah, it feels so good knowin’ the hitter will just smash the ball so easily because of a clean set._

A few rallies later, that squirt was finally up to serve. Atsumu watched him, curiously, as the little guy grinned, holding the volleyball on the other side of the court. Karasuno’s lineup for aggressive servers seemed pretty stacked with Tobio, the samurai ace, and the buzz-cut ace; Atsumu wondered if the elated look on Hinata’s face was some sort of precursor to an amazing serve. 

It wasn’t, as the guy merely bonked it over the net towards Aran, who received it easily. Atsumu smirked to himself, realizing how taken-in everyone seemed to get around Hinata that something like a normal serve was kind of funny. Two spikers jumped for a quick-attack and he decided to send it to Gin at the last possible millisecond. Atsumu thought it would be a no-brainer of a point, as most people wouldn’t be fast enough to read the play and stop it in one go. He was more than a little stunned when Hinata popped up out of nowhere, positioned himself in the way of Gin’s spike, and still completely missed bumping the ball. The most shocking part was the ball miraculously sailing up and towards Tobio since it definitely wasn’t received by any arms as far as Atsumu could tell. 

“The heck was that?!” He shouted along with a few of his teammates. At least he wasn’t the only one who didn’t quite catch how the squirt saved that ball. 

Everyone seemed hyper-focused on Hinata now with the confusion of his save in combination with his sprinting up the court like he would absolutely hit a back-row attack now. The squirt sprang into the air and the blockers hesitated. It looked as if Tobio had sent the ball right where everyone knew it would go: to Hinata, who was seemingly frozen mid-air in peak spiking form. But it sailed right past him and their captain smacked it down. 

Atsumu groaned to himself, clearly seeing how Tobio had just successfully baited his blockers with Hinata’s presence; which was actually quite loud and commanding for such a squirt.

A few jarring claps brought Atsumu’s attention to Karasuno’s captain a moment later. He was making his way to the end of the court to serve again, but the sound made him pause and he looked over at the guy too. 

“Hey, whoa! He isn’t the first nasty server we’ve dealt with and he won’t be the last. We don’t have anything to panic about,” that stabilizing number one said firmly. 

Karasuno seemed to agree with responses of ‘yeah!’, but Atsumu continued to leer at them through the net, letting out a ‘hmph’ before he made it to the end of the court. 

He put his hands on his hips and turned towards Osamu slightly, “hey, ‘Samu…” 

“Yeah, ‘Sumu?”

He didn’t bother looking at his twin and kept his gaze towards Karasuno’s eccentric players, “last thing you wanna do is let opportunity slip through your fingers, right?” 

Osamu was most definitely giving some sort of disbelieving expression right about now, but Atsumu didn’t check. He tore his eyes away from the opposition and walked over to the end of the court, continuing onward and counting idly in his head. _One, two, three, four… should do it. Let’s seize the moment, then._

He tossed the ball into the air, chased after it, and bonked it without a spin over the net. It went exactly where he wanted and he smirked, seeing their libero barely get under it in time. The tiny guy seemed to falter quite a bit with receiving the floater, but managed to get it into the air. Their ace smashed it down, but Akagi bumped it to Atsumu. He easily got under the ball and everything just seemed to click into place. He knew that this would be a great opportunity to seize. _This position, this timing, this angle… perfecto!_

He snapped the ball all the way left in a flash where Osamu was waiting, mid-air and ready. His twin swung his arm down with abandon and absolutely nailed it, barely a blocker in sight. Atsumu grinned widely, exhilarated at trying new things and having them work out on the first attempt; especially cool new quick-attacks. He barely noticed the opponents’ odd mix of emotions swirling around their side of the court, but heard a confused, gritty, “bwaah?!”

“Geh.. you seriously did it,” Suna commented blandly.

“Ain’t as laser-accurate as Tobio-kun’s though,” Atsumu added, smiling happily regardless, then he took a more serious tone, “when you see someone do something super cool, don’tcha just wanna try doin’ it too? Heh!” 

Aran put his hands on his hips and faced Suna and Osamu, “man! Trust twins to have that kinda complete faith in each other! It must be so cool bein’ on the same team as your brother!”

Atsumu peered back at the three of them, wondering how Osamu would reply to that, but the other just gazed at Aran silently then gave a small shrug. Atsumu scoffed to himself and rolled his eyes, then walked over to serve again. _I dunno if it’s that cool or not, but Osamu can definitely hit my sets._

He was finally cut off this time and it was the Samurai Ace’s turn to serve next. The guy blasted the ball over earning a service ace. Atsumu frowned to himself, thinking that maybe copying Tobio’s freak-quick attack only once wouldn’t be enough to shake the crows up and off their game. Besides, there was no better time than the present to keep using the insanely fast set. _We’ll just have to do it again and see what they think then!_

In the very next opportunity, Atsumu snapped the ball perfectly in that new lightning-fast quick to Osamu on the left again. His brother slammed it down for a point a second later through a barely formed block. Atsumu took a moment to spy on his opponents' faces, checking to see if their feathers were ruffled yet. Tobio looked impassive as ever, while some of the others looked flat out irritated. 

His eyes grazed the tall blond directly across the net, noting that he wore an interestingly conflicted sort of bland expression. Atsumu nearly commented to the guy, but Osamu spoke up first, drawing his attention, “you do know just how _creepy_ that is, right? The ball just… being there… like that?”

“Aw! C’mon! You don’t gotta butter me up like that!” Atsumu replied lightly, smiling, and rubbing the back of his neck for extra theatrics. Then he dropped the act just a tad and continued his survey, mentally taking in his opponents’ mood. 

It turned out not to be difficult to push that envelope, as tiny number ten rotated back into the game for the next play. Atsumu could almost feel the burn of the other’s eyes on him, and he peeked over to see the squirt eyeing him and Osamu intensely, suspiciously. _Hehe! Perfect! Smolder all ya want, squirt! Keep your focus on ‘Samu for as long as ya want!_

During the next play, Atsumu knew where all the focus would be, and he sent the ball to Suna in the center, completely tricking Hinata. Tobio wasn’t as drawn in, however, and deflected Suna’s spike. It was received messily by their captain and Atsumu carefully watched Tobio jump to set. _Their game yesterday… the messier the bump, the more Tobio-kun loves to shoehorn in a quick-set. Part of that is probably ‘cause both his natural skill and aggressiveness are off the charts… another part is probably more strategic, tryin’ to make us pay a little less attention to the standard response to a botched bump, going to the ace on the edge. Now mix in the fact that we just showed off our own version of his favorite little attack, and yeah, this time he’s goin’ straight to Hinata-kun._

A second later, Atsumu’s suspicions were proven right as Tobio sent the ball straight to Hinata. The little guy smashed it down, but the blockers were ready for it and completely shut him out. The ball landed with a thud on Karasuno’s side, earning a point for Inarizaki. 

The next couple of rallies ended similarly with Atsumu sending nastily quick sets to Osamu. They landed most of the time too, despite it being a completely new move; Atsumu knew his brother would easily pick up any slack that he himself dropped with accuracy for that super-fast quick inspired by Karasuno’s freak-duo. 

Atsumu grinned mildly across the net at the pair of them, inadvertently catching their attention. Tobio gazed back, calmly, unbothered, but the squirt was definitely riled up with his mouth pressed into a thin line. Atsumu imagined briefly that he could see steam coming out of the guy’s ears with how scalding his expression looked. 

“Huh? What?” Atsumu asked through the net, wondering if Hinata had something to say. 

The latter continued to stare with that fiery, almost calculating look before muttering through clenched teeth, “nothin’.” 

Atsumu squinted back, puzzled, as he was feeling warmer than usual or maybe the atmosphere of the gymnasium was more charged than usual. Either way, something felt different but he was having a hard time placing what it was, exactly. He didn’t have time to bask in the sensation any longer as the whistle blew for the serve and Aran smacked the ball over.

Atsumu clearly saw the super-quick attack approach with Hinata flying into the air, and he jumped too alongside Omimi to block. _Your unpredictability is gettin’ predictable, Tobio-kun!_

The ball rammed forward anyway, grazing Atsumu’s fingertips, then landed right outside the endline. He landed back down and whipped his head around to Hinata once again, “whooaa-ho!” 

The squirt was smiling happily, being hugged by their buzz-cut ace and Atsumu realized that his strategy was definitely intentional. He hadn’t seen the guy do it before, but now Hinata had demonstrated that he was capable of tooling a block. That skill alone raised his threat level on the court considerably. Atsumu groaned, adding that fact to the growing list of things Hinata could use to pull all the attention to himself while on the court. 

It was Atsumu’s turn to serve again and he smacked the ball over as harshly as ever. Unfortunately, it snagged the top of the net and went toppling just over the edge. He watched it carefully, “oopsie!”

The opposing captain scramble after it, bumping it towards Tobio, but it was already flying back across the net. Gin got under it in time and bumped it to Atsumu, who couldn’t help but see this situation as another great opportunity to shove a freakishly fast copycat quick attack right in Karasuno’s face. He sent the ball zinging to Osamu, knowing that his twin would definitely be there to nail it. However, like he had read the future, that tall, blonde, number eleven was there too, and completely stuffed Osamu. 

The tall guy landed right after the ball smacked Inarizaki’s court and said blandly, “I’ve always wanted a chance to roof that stupid quick-set.” 

“Bwuh?!” Atsumu gasped quietly with surprise and stared at the guy, along with several of the other players around the net. No one else said anything, although Karasuno’s members had some pretty interesting reactions. Atsumu noted foremost that Tobio’s face had soured a great deal more than before. _Who is this guy now? How did he block that lightning-fast quick set like that? Is Karasuno really just full of freakin’ monsters?!_

The next couple of rallies really drew Atsumu’s attention to the blonde; especially since he happened to be in the front row now. First, he kept managing to get deflections on nearly every hit Atsumu put up. Then, Tobio sent him soaring through the air, really high with that six-two build, and the guy smashed the ball down from above their blockers. He landed and glared, uninhibited, at his setter and Tobio returned the look, murderously. Atsumu merely watched them, a little transfixed by the weird animosity he was witnessing. They had just scored successfully too. _It ain’t been that long since the youth camp… what happened to Tobio-kun since then? He basically just yanked number eleven up into the air like that… sure, the guy nailed it, but that wasn’t obligin’ at all._

He didn’t have any longer to contemplate Karasuno’s interpersonal relationships as the rotation changed and that squirt rotated into the front row again; sending the tall blonde to the back. 

Atsumu grinned and called out to whoever was close, though he didn’t bother checking, “guys, guys! The other guys’ blocking is all full of holes this rotation! What say we rack ourselves up some points!” 

“Hey!” Hinata bristled and squawked through the net. 

“No taking the bait, Hinata,” their captain scolded mildly. 

“Besides, he’s just telling the truth,” Tobio commented, taking his position on the court. Atsumu laughed at them while Hinata whirled around and glared at his own setter.

But maybe that was some sort of baiting in itself by Tobio, as just the very next play, Hinata’s blocking seemed extremely solid. Atsumu saw the perfect opportunity to send another freak-quick to Osamu, who had jumped early, almost expectantly at this point. He slammed the ball down, but Hinata had sprung into the air to block and stuffed Osamu flat out. It all seemed too quick and reliable for the squirt’s current skill level; which Atsumu had been assessing the entire match thus far. _Suspicious._

“Commit blocking, huh? That’s a surprise,” Osamu commented mildly while peering at the squirt through the net.

“You said it,” Atsumu replied, following his gaze. _Ah hah, so, ‘Samu thinks so too… it probably won’t help much._

Hinata looked pumped at his accomplishment though and continued to commit to Osamu’s movements, but it was mostly in vain. Atsumu watched as the squirt failed repeatedly to get another solid block or even a deflection off of Osamu, leading up to a joust up on the net between the two. Osamu easily won the joust, simply because he was bigger, better, and had more experience, which was plain as day in Atsumu’s opinion. _Man, Hinata-kun’s got some wicked hops… but, hops are all he’s got._

They landed back down with their teeny opponent looking brilliantly frustrated. Atsumu gazed lazily at his opponent’s face and noticed that Osamu was staring him down too, almost curiously, “huh… well that was way easier than I expected.” 

The next rally went by in a blur, even though it seemed crystal clear to Atsumu. Karasuno wasn’t giving up, but he could almost feel his teammates start to slacken their efforts; it resulted in a net foul, giving their opponents a free point. 

“Augh! Got carried away and over-reached,” Aran groaned, holding up his hand in apology. 

Atsumu frowned, knowing it probably wasn’t as simple as that with their momentum on the court. He turned towards his twin abruptly, “‘Samu! Quit slackin’ off!”

“I’m not slackin’!” Osamu griped back, guiltily.

“Liar! Last rally you were all like, ‘hey folks! Imma decoy so imma half-ass my approach!’ Who’s gonna bite on that, huh?!” Atsumu complained.

“Oh, shut up. If I went all out every time I jumped, I’d never last an entire game,” 

“They know that when you’re hittin’, you’re scorin’, so how ‘bout you show off a little more, huh?! Or what, you _scared_ of their mini-blocker?” Atsumu heckled his brother, honestly confused as to why his brother wouldn’t just put forward the effort since he had the skills to do so.

“Heck no! Why would I be?!” Osamu growled back.

“What?! You’re not?!” Hinata’s voice rang out from across the net. Clearly, the guy had been witnessing their entire dispute along with Karasuno’s other members that were right up on the net while waiting for the whistle.

“Uh, no?” Osamu replied calmly, gazing back at the squirt with that curious expression again. 

Atsumu grinned, watching Hinata’s face light up in a flurry of mixed emotions, ending with a stupendously offended pout. The whistle blew, taking his focus away from that disgruntled expression and honing in on the ball that was now sailing in his direction. He glanced over at Osamu with narrowed eyes, glaring his resolve as telepathically as he could. _Don’t you dare slack off on me. Don’t you dare. Don’t you daaaaaare!_

All he got in return was Osamu catching his eyes, then giving him an unbothered sort of compliance as he jumped. Atsumu sent the ball in a quick-attack right to him, as easily hittable as always. Osamu seemed to hesitate as Hinata suddenly popped up like a daisy right in front of him, completely closing off a cross-shot. Even from his setter’s position, Atsumu could tell that the squirt was bizarrely intimidating at that moment and understood why Osamu slammed the ball down in a line-shot instead. Unfortunately, their libero picked it up like he had been waiting for the line-shot all along. _Ugh, he purposely made ‘Samu take the line…_

The ball went zinging to Tobio while all the crows started sprinting up to jump. Atsumu wasted a split-second searching for Hinata, but the latter was unusually lost amongst the others. He groaned to himself, realizing that he had got caught up in the decoy’s presence once again as Karasuno’s captain slammed the ball down, earning them a point.

Atsumu caught his twin peering through the net at the freak-duo again, frowning. A second later he commented, “watchin’ ‘em sure makes me hungry.”

“Huh?” Atsumu responded, confused, but the whistle blew for a time-out and they walked over to join their teammates; his confusion being swallowed up by his teammates' chatter. 

“So, do ya think they got real plays where number ten doesn’t jump out? Or was that last one just a one-off fluke?” Akagi asked.

“Wasn’t there that one play at the end of their other match where they did somethin’ like that?” Atsumu asked in return. The move seemed familiar for some reason like he had seen it at least once before. 

“Yeah, but twice doesn’t count as a pattern…” 

“Hey. How many times are you gonna make me say it?” Coach Kurosu spoke up, irritably, “get sidetracked by number ten all the time and you’re dancing to their tune. If you keep jumpin’ every time they say ‘boo’, what makes you think they’re gonna stop?... it’s just like with dog training. Ignoring ‘em hits hardest. There’s a time to adjust and adapt, and there’s a time to stand firm and hold your ground. Don’t get ‘em mixed up. Remember, it’s the back half of the game when read blocking really starts to shine.”

“Yessir!” Atsumu called out along with his teammates. _He’s right though, Hinata sure is distracting… and he keeps pullin’ off these new, random moves outta nowhere too... Again with dog training though… he’s brought that up a lot lately._

Once the time-out ended, it seemed like the game went into overdrive. Inarizaki had been maintaining a small lead on Karasuno once they got a handle on that freak-quick and shut most of them down, but somehow the crows caught up and they were neck and neck, racing to get to twenty-five points first. Then Karasuno brought out a pinch server. 

It was the mousey, freckled guy from before and it seemed like he was going to completely miss his whistle to serve as he just stood there blankly. However, at the last second, he tossed, jumped, and bonked the ball over the net in a swift movement. It floated over uneasily and ricocheted off Aran’s arms in a service ace. Atsumu groaned to himself, annoyed at Karasuno’s celebrating their pinch server’s success. 

“Dude!” He called out to Aran in agitation, “you let ‘em getcha like that?!” 

“Hey, Atsumu! Zip it!” Gin stage-whispered hotly.

“Sorry!” Aran replied, covering his face with a hand and waving off Atsumu’s attitude with the other, looking pretty depressed by his mistake.

Gin glared turned his attention from Aran back to Atsumu and whispered again, “now look whatcha did!” 

There wasn’t really time for Atsumu to feel too guilty about going off on his teammate, however, as the whistle blew for the next serve. The floater came over again and this time, Aran bumped it without any issues. Atsumu called out ‘nice bump!’ before he briskly sent it to Omimi in a quick-set. Despite blockers and that pinch server getting in the path of the ball, it still slapped Karasuno’s court, giving Inarizaki a point. 

Both teams were excruciatingly close to twenty-five points, and Atsumu wondered for a second if Karasuno would be able to bring this set into a deuce. Their next serve was caught by Karasuno’s captain, but it blasted off his arms so harshly that it flew high into the air and at an angle away from Karasuno’s side. Even the crowds in the stands started preemptively cheering for Inarizaki’s point, but Atsumu saw something wild.

Tobio chased after the stray ball, ducking under the net in his pursuit, and somehow getting himself underneath it even though it was completely outside the court. He seemed to pause for a split second, then set the ball in a beautiful arc from outside the net pin. Atsumu watched the ball, noting that his setter rival was sprinting back to his side, and saw Karasuno’s ace leap into the air. The guy slammed the ball down into the blockers and out of bounds, scoring a point for Karasuno. _He spiked that ball off of that set?! What the heck?! Argh and that beautiful set too! The problem is now they’re at match point. But we’ll score next, and then I get to serve._

Just a minute later, Suna completely stuffed the buzz-cut ace, bringing the game into a deuce, and Atsumu focused on the guy as he walked into position to serve. He heard a few random shouts of ‘aim for the ace’ from the stands, and took a quick inventory of the opposing court, noticing the buzz-cut ace staring back before shouting, “bring! It! Oooooooon!”

Atsumu liked a good challenge, and tossed the ball, chased it down, then smacked it across the net. His hand made contact with the ball so precisely that it was nearly loud enough to drown out the noise from the stands, and it pelted towards number five just as planned. _Oooh! That felt gooood!_

At the last millisecond, Karasuno’s springy libero intercepted his power-blast of a serve instead of number five and it sailed smoothly to the setter’s position. Atsumu gnashed his teeth together in irritation, “whaaaat?!”

Atsumu watched his blockers twitch, waiting to see where Tobio would send the ball; unluckily it proved to be one of those moments where Karasuno decided to send out all their players to attack at once. Tobio sent the ball towards that tall, blonde middle blocker, but the real threat was from behind. Their captain leapt from the back row with the same timing and smacked the ball over, sending it right to the endline. 

Atsumu frowned and squinted at the captain through the net. It was surprising as the captain wasn’t the tallest guy on the court and didn’t even have a super-high spiking height, which made a back-row attack from him very unlikely. However, the crows had successfully cut Atsumu off at one serve; once again utilizing the element of surprise. It was frustrating, but there was no use denying what his opponents had accomplished. He peeked at the scoreboard, noting that Karasuno only needed one more point, “they ain’t half bad.”

The next rally was off to an unsteady start with the ball slipping slightly through his fingers from moisture. Atsumu grimaced, wondering if the freak-quick-set would make it all the way to his twin. Of course, in the back of his mind, he didn’t have any doubts as Osamu was right there to save the blunder, sending the ball back over the net. He knew it was risky to use completely unpracticed, new moves when the opponent was at set point, but it seemed pointless to be spineless. He somewhat heard Coach shout something along the lines of ‘idiot!’ anyway as he focused on the ball's trajectory. 

Buzz-cut ace spiked again, but Suna blocked it successfully, then it was picked up by their libero. He barely got it back over the net and Atsumu easily got under the ball, delivering it perfectly this time to Suna to slam down. He glimpsed that tall blonde jump into the air and completely close off Suna’s shot, but that didn’t matter. Suna twisted his body nimbly and still smacked the ball down and around the block. Karasuno’s captain bumped it uneasily and it flew to buzz-cut-ace once more. But this was the latter half of the game now, and Atsumu knew that there would be no way his teammates would leave holes in their defense with their read-blocking. He saw Osamu close off the edge in the last second and that number five nailed the ball down anyway in a line-shot, cornered. The whistle blew a second later, signaling it was out. _Whew! So sharp! But so out! Can ya handle the pressure? I’d say you’re feelin’ it for sure!_

“Woo! Lucky break for us!” Atsumu sang out gleefully.

“You got that right,” Osamu agreed, then eyed him, “you owe me a pudding cup.. and not one of the lil’ three-to-a-pack ones neither.”

“I’m sorry, okay?!” Atsumu moaned, annoyed that his twin would still be mad about the slippery set that got away from him earlier. They made it work anyway. 

Gin served a netball next, but Tobio managed to bump it back into the air with his fingertips. Then that blonde number eleven got under it, calling out calmly, “got it.” 

Buzz-cut ace shouted, “leeeefft!”

“Asahi-san,” the blonde said, then set it nicely to the samurai ace instead. _Yeowch! Savage!_

The ace purposely slammed it down low into the blockers' arms and the ball ping-ponged between their bodies and the net to the floor. Karasuno was at set point again. Atsumu peeked at number five as the other shouted praise to his teammate for the successful waterfall-ball play. He didn’t look nearly as strained from the pressure as Atsumu would hope. But surely it was there and he just couldn’t see it clearly. He squinted slightly while he watched through the net as Hinata jogged over to the ace. 

“Tanaka-san! Got a sec?” The squirt called out and paused for a second before spilling excitedly, “when their number ten came zooming up the middle all zwooosh! You were all ‘gwuah!’ coming in from the side with your block, and that was really cool! Blocking in the middle means you get stuck all by yourself a lot, right? So it feels really awesome to have someone from the edge zoom in to help out!” 

“Oh, uh… really?” Tanaka replied sheepishly to the praise.

Hinata didn’t slow down in his speech, picking up the pace even more, “yeah! You were like Datekou’s blockers! Coming in all ‘hraaahh’ and ‘dooom’ an-“

The whistle blew, cutting off the rest of whatever that guy was saying, but Atsumu stared for a beat longer with raised eyebrows, wondering if the squirt just undid a large amount of that tightly wound pressure he and his teammates had been winding up all game.

They bumped the next serve pretty easily and Atsumu saw Hinata still commit-blocking Osamu, but that seemed fine. He snapped the ball to his brother, who hesitated for a flash of a moment as Tanaka popped up alongside Hinata out of nowhere, strengthening the wall. They forced Osamu to spike a line-shot straight into their captain’s waiting arms. Atsumu glanced along his opponents’ faces briefly, trying to make a guess where Tobio would send the ball next. The tall blonde caught his attention as he was scrutinizing his own teammates’ blocking with a very interesting sort of frustration splashed across his face like he was just hit with water. A strange ripple of dissatisfied surprise. 

Atsumu blinked, tearing his eyes away from the expression before he sunk and lost sight of the moment. Tanaka had gained a good approach and was sprinting up the court yelling, “left, bruh! Leeeeeft!”

Hinata was also already in the air, reaching maximum striking range, and Atsumu thought that maybe, Tobio wouldn’t send the ball to Tanaka since he had failed so many hits this set. Suna must have thought so as well, but as soon as the ball went zinging towards Tanaka, they flung themselves in the opposite direction to block the ace. He came at them, full force, and sliced the ball down in a super-sharp cross-shot. The whistle blew, signaling that the ball was in, and the set was over. Karasuno had taken it from them, scratching away with their unpredictable, scrappy talons until they came out on top. 

Atsumu put his hands on his hips and pouted, gazing at the crows across the net while they rowdily celebrated. He was about to follow Osamu away to gather up their stuff and switch sides for the next set but heard Tanaka call out to a teammate, unintentionally drawing Atsumu’s attention and causing him to linger out of curiosity.

“Yo, Tsukishima,” Tanaka said, looking smug, and the tall blonde paused, looking over his shoulder at the other who continued, “I called for the ball earlier, but you totally ignored me, bruh!”

Atsumu grinned to himself, remembering that he also thought the move was pretty dreadful towards a teammate who was obviously floundering. This blonde was pretty interesting with his frosty tenacity for blocking and apparently, teamwork. It sort of snagged Atsumu’s attention for some reason, similarly to how he noticed Hinata grabbed his attention too. But it was glaringly dissimilar in that ‘Tsukishima’ seemed coolly relentless without giving even a tiny breadth of opportunity to forget his presence; while Hinata’s presence was so blinding, it was impossible to forget. _Man, Karasuno is so interestin’! Just chock full of surprises! First Tobio, and now these other guys that I just can’t seem to keep from watchin’... what is this? Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. We’re definitely not gonna slack and lose the second set._

Tsukishima’s polite, yet dry, reply caught his attention again, “hm? Well, yes. In that situation, Asahi-san seemed the more likely one to score.”

“Why do you always have to be so blunt about everything?!” Tanaka griped.

“Me? Why must _you_ be so ridiculously mentally tough? It’s frightening. Don’t you ever get depressed?” Tsukishima asked, not answering his senpai’s question.

“Huh?! I just was!”

“When?”

“Just a minute ago! I got totally down on myself for whole seconds!” Tanaka argued vehemently, but Tsukishima just gazed back at him in silence.

Atsumu raised his eyebrows, intrigued, and watched them start to walk towards the benches. He casually walked along the net too, not wanting to miss out, and Tanaka stopped for a second then turned to face his teammate seriously, “but think for a minute.. between depressed me and gung-ho me… which one’s cooler?”

“Personally, I don’t think either are-“

“The gung-ho me, of course!” Tanaka steamrolled through the blonde's answer, and Atsumu smirked at the pair while Tanaka laughed and continued happily, “wahahaha! At the end of the day, once you’re down there’s only one way to go! Up!” 

“I was _trying_ to say that it isn’t as easy as you make it sound…” Tsukishima commented listlessly. 

Then they walked too far away towards their teammates. Atsumu considered Karasuno for a moment longer, then made his way back to his own team, thinking on how to shake them up again. _Welp. Apparently, it’s gonna be hard to fluster Tanaka-kun.. and Tsukishima-kun seems unflappable by everything except his own teammates, heh! We’ve already shut down their freak-quick pretty good. Maybe I should just get ‘em on serves alone, then. I kinda noticed during the first set that when I go to serve, they have their captain and libero in the back to bump ‘em. Their libero is good. Real good. But for whatever reason, it looks like jump floaters are his kryptonite. I think I’ll just hafta double check that._


	13. HS

Shouyou peeked at the scoreboard after watching Inarizaki’s ace, Ojiro-san, smash a ball down their side of the court. This set wasn’t going very well with Inarizaki being ahead by seven whole points already. Shouyou thought that with Tanaka-san’s amazing cross-shot, they’d ride the momentum of winning that first set and have an advantage in the second. But it wasn’t going that way at all. It seemed like that Miya setter had completely switched tactics in a way that Shouyou had trouble following, and started picking on Noya-san with jump floater serves. They were relentless and it was frustrating to watch their super amazing libero being targeted like that. He could almost feel Noya-san’s irritation seeping out of him like an overfilled cup that just couldn’t contain it anymore. To top it all off, they hadn’t been able to really stop the Miya twins’ copycat freak-quick attack either.

He was completely floored when he saw them copy his and Kageyama’s quick-set like that. It never even occurred to him before that someone else would be able to set the ball like Kageyama and match his speed in the air. But with how fast-paced the game had been going so far, he really didn’t have a good chance to dwell on it too much. 

He put his hands on his hips, taking a deep breath in and out to try to refocus before the next whistle; the scary, setter Miya-san was up to serve again. It was so easy to get distracted in this atmosphere. The crowds of people cheering for their favorite teams were huge, especially Inarizaki’s wild group, which was totally competing with Karasuno’s cheering section made up of Tanaka-san’s sister’s Taiko drum club. Plus the tv camera crews, commentators, every other spectator, and all of the other competing teams on the other two courts inside the massive, vaulted gymnasium. It was actually a bit overwhelming and Shouyou felt like he was being swallowed up whole by it all unless he kept his eyes on the ball. 

There was also an incessant thrum swirling around the gym. He noticed it immediately, but with how completely packed and busy the place was, it was impossible to tell where it was coming from; regardless of how persistent it felt. It was a goading, almost nagging sort of sensation that begged for attention, totally different from whatever he felt around Tsukki. His known soulmate had felt more zappy, electric. But this one was nudgy, unmistakably distinct, and definitely present. Shouyou almost thought it could be coming from across the net right at that moment. However, he shook himself of the idea, wanting to focus on the match. Besides, the sensation had been persistent and lingering since day one of nationals, despite coming and going like waves; it was too difficult to pinpoint from where. At this point, the atmosphere in the gym was so overburdened with excitement, that everything felt a little more charged than usual anyway. The only thing that was crystal clear was that pursuing volleyball was the answer. Everything else was just fuzzy.

The noise suddenly stopped and Shouyou looked back across the net, seeing Miya-san with his hand raised in a fist in the air. He had silenced his team’s cheering section like some sort of super cool conductor again. Shouyou watched him toss the ball, jump into the air, then bonk it over the net without a spin so quickly that Noya-san barely got his arms up in time for the ball to brush off his fingers and bounce onto the floor behind him. The crowd started cheering again with shouts of ‘yeah! Score! A-tsu-mu!’ and ‘do that again!’ Then the whistle blew and Shouyou glanced around, seeing that Coach Ukai had called a time-out.

He started to turn towards his teammates on the sidelines but looked over at Miya-san when he heard the other say, “man, it sure feels awesome when I can score a service ace off a guy who’s that good.”

Shouyou knit his brows together, realizing that Miya-san was watching Noya-san walk away towards the benches.

“There it is again,” their bendy number ten called out, which made Miya-san look over his shoulder at his teammate and away from Noya-san.

“There’s what a-when?” Miya-san asked his teammate.

“You showing off just how dumb and thoughtless you are about everything,” number ten replied blandly. Shouyou paused and raised his eyebrows instead, surprised at this opinion of the setter.  _ I thought he was super smart with his plays and targeting Noya-san on purpose.. isn’t he? Kageyama even complimented him before too, saying how formidable of an opponent he was even without the dual-wielding serve skill…  _

“Huh?!” Miya-san griped hotly, “hey! That’s rude, y’know!”

The whistle sounded right after this exchange and Shouyou just watched the opposing setter walk over to the endline, taking four steps beyond it. Another jump floater would be coming next. 

Another short whistle later, and that jump floater zoomed across the net, bouncing off Noya-san’s arms and thumping into the ground next to him. Shouyou stared at the court, fully taking in the situation that Noya-san was legitimately having trouble bumping a ball. It seemed almost unheard of, with how amazingly good Noya-san was at floor defense. 

“Whooaaaa!...” he said softly, in awe, while watching his teammates on the court, “it’s the ultimate-server versus the super-libero!”

“Pfft!” Suga-san started laughing and Shouyou flinched, looking at him before he said, “that about sums it up, yeah.”

Suddenly, Noya-san dropped down to his feet and hands, holding his body up off the ground, and started doing fingertip pushups. After what looked like about ten, he bounced back up to his feet in a snap and faced the net looking like he was waiting expectantly for the next serve. 

Miya-san sent it over a second later with the whistle, and Noya-san lunged after it, bumping it low into the air. It was close to the net and Tanaka-san got under it, but messily sent it to Asahi-san. The ace couldn’t seem to spike it from the emergency set and lobbed it over the net with a feint. Unfortunately, it sailed right towards the setter Miya twin, who saved the ball and bumped it to his brother. Without missing a beat, the other Miya twin set the ball to number ten, who jumped into the air to spike it down. But Tsukki came flying into the air too, putting up a terrifying wall just by himself. Shouyou squinted at the ball, seeing that number ten somehow twist his body and manage to slam it down right past Tsukki’s defense. 

Shouyou gaped at the court, watching as Miya-san walked to the endline again for his fourth serve in the row, while Tsukki seemed to be talking with number ten through the net. Shouyou really wanted to know what they were saying, but it was too loud in the gym to make anything out. There was no mistaking Tsukki’s genuinely aggrieved expression as he turned away from the other to take his position on the court though.  _ Wait.. but Tsukki blocked that perfectly! How did that bendy guy get around that to score?! _

“I don’t get it. How did he get around that?!” Shouyou questioned aloud, to no one in particular. 

“Hmmm… it kinda looks like their number ten’s hitting range is different than what you’d normally see,” Suga-san answered, also peering at their opponents. 

“Yeah, I agree. It looks like he’s using more of his core to hit the ball rather than just his arm and shoulder..” Ennoshita-san added.

“What?! Is that why his spikes look so bendy, like fwwiip?” Shouyou asked in surprise. He hadn’t really thought of using different parts of the body like his torso to change how the ball was hit.  _ Can I figure out how to hit a ball around blockers like that? Using my whole body to hit the ball?  _

Suga-san looked around at him and nodded, “Yep, I think so! It really looks like he can just crunch to the side a little more than you’d usually go and that’s how he’s zingin’ those balls past our blocks. Tsukishima-kun’s block just now was perfect, too. Man, I wonder why that number ten hasn’t been doing that the whole game so far?” 

“Maybe he’s a slow starter. This is kind of a huge problem… don’t you think?” Ennoshita-san said, frowning. Before Suga-san could respond, the whistle blew for the serve and Miya-san smacked the ball across the net. It flew past Noya-san rapidly and rebounded off the ground beyond the endline. 

Suga-san blew out a breath of air that he had been holding in during the service, “well, yes. It’ll probably be a problem… but at least Miya is finally done serving for now… really gotta watch out for that guy.” Suga-san muttered the last bit a little more to himself, staring vaguely across the net, and Shouyou scrunched his nose up in puzzlement. It was kind of obvious that Miya-san was like a quadruple threat, at least.

It was like a twisted battle between middle blockers up on the net as Inarizaki’s number ten kept up his bizarre acrobatics. Shouyou tried to watch him carefully, seeing how he turned his body to hit the balls like a spiker would into opposing blockers rather than a middle blocker would; but it was so quick that he barely even followed how Tsukki’s read blocking was being manipulated. 

The battle continued with twisted deflections from number ten and Ojiro-san getting his hand on the ball several times to spike. Karasuno managed to save most of the balls he smashed over, but the rally seemed neverending. Shouyou could only watch as Tsukki and Kageyama leapt into the air for the third time to block Ojiro-san, but the ace had the height advantage at this moment since he was already in the air, ready for a quick-attack, and slammed the ball down over Kageyama’s head. There was nothing to do at the moment other than to admire Ojiro-san’s raw power. It reminded Shouyou of Bokuto-san or Ushiwaka, and he knew that if they just kept putting pressure on him by targeting him with serves and putting up solid walls, he may run out of gas. It was really the only reliable way to hamper someone who played like that.

Shouyou rotated onto the court and Coach Ukai called Suga-san to sub in for Tsukki’s serve. The latter slid his glasses up slightly while he walked by Shouyou, rubbing his temple momentarily.

“Yeah, it’s kinda charged in here, huh?” Shouyou commented to his soulmate in passing, not really thinking about his words as they slipped from him easily. Tsukki paused for a second and squinted down his nose at Shouyou. He startled at himself more so than at Tsukki's haughty curiosity, realizing what he had said, then fumbled rapidly, “T-Taiko drums are so cool!”

Luckily, Tsukki just scoffed and stalked away towards the sidelines. Shouyou sighed a breath of relief and a second later, focused on Suga-san as he shouted from the back of the court, “yo! Listen up! None of you better be thinking we can afford to drop this set because we won the first one! We’re walking away with this game in straight sets!”

His vice-captain looked particularly determined, and Shouyou smiled, seeing Inarizaki’s bewildered faces across the net. Inarizaki was one point away from twenty and nine whole points ahead, but Shouyou could relate to the feeling of not wanting to give up despite the point gap.  _ Ah! Suga-san is so strong!  _

Ever since the first set when Coach had given him the task of commit-blocking the hitter Miya twin, number eleven, Shouyou put all his efforts into forcing the guy to recognize that he could be an imposing wall too. He knew that he wasn’t super successful, as they had scored several times regardless. He was only one person against the copy-freak-quick-attack, but he jumped anyway, resolute in his efforts to try. He glanced across the net at Miya-san, seeing that the freak-quick was definitely coming this time, and jumped impulsively. The ball smacked against his fingers, deflecting off of them sharply and careening away behind him. He quickly spun around to see if anyone saved the ball and caught Suga-san barely getting it back up into the air. Asahi-san bumped it up towards Kageyama and he knocked it over the net in a tip, but Ojiro-san received it. The ball went sailing to the setter Miya, who sent it back to their ace. Ojiro-san looked really drained, dripping with sweat, but he jumped and smacked the ball into their blockers anyway scoring a block-out point. Shouyou huffed and ran his hands through his hair, hearing Suga-san groan in frustration while he switched back with Tsukki. 

Then Inarizaki brought out their own pinch server. He used a jump serve, but it seemed kind of safe, super-controlled, and Asahi-san bumped it easily. Shouyou sprinted up to the net and launched into the air, ready for the ball. He felt it a millisecond later and grinned, slamming it down towards that pinch server. It ricocheted off his arms just as quickly, and they scored. 

“Yeah! Woooo!” He shouted, glad to finally get in an amazing feeling quick-set. But he froze immediately, hearing Inarizaki’s cheering section loudly calling ‘booooo’, then they continued with their heckling, aiming all their spite at that pinch server. The guy looked depressed as he made his way back to the sidelines and Shouyou frowned.  _ That’s pretty rough. Who heckles their own team? I kinda feel bad for the guy now.. _

He didn’t have time to dwell on the rude crowd as Kageyama was up to serve next. He looked completely unbothered by the rowdy stands and Shouyou imagined that the guy probably didn’t even hear it as he railed the ball to the opposite court in a no-touch service ace. 

“Ah! I know what that is…” Shouyou said sagely, gazing at his setter, “it’s ‘Kageyama the Calm’!”

“Uh, whatcha talking about, bro?” Tanaka-san asked. 

“It’s exactly what it sounds like.. Kageyama when he’s super calm. You know, like that time I first did the eyes-open zippy quick, or that time he forced Tsukishima’s contact point higher. It’s those times when Kageyama is super extra focused,” Shouyou answered, “however, his calm exterior conceals the turbulent aggression which lies beneath and one would do well to exercise caution in the handling of ‘Kageyama the Calm’. This skill tends to activate when Kageyama is faced with high-caliber opponents.”

“Uh, why’d you suddenly start sounding like a user manual in the middle there?” Tanaka responded blandly, and the whistle blew as Inarizaki called a time-out. 

Shouyou could tell that taking a time-out wouldn’t change Kageyama’s mood though, and when the break was done, he immediately served another service ace. 

His third serve was picked up, barely, and sent to Inarizaki’s ace. Shouyou formed up a block with Sawamura-san and Tanaka-san, closing off the line-shot. Ojiro-san smacked the ball down in a cross-shot instead, but it beamed the court just out of bounds. They were starting to catch up, getting closer and closer to twenty points now, closing the gap. 

Kageyama’s fourth serve was so fast and hard that it rebounded off the receiver's arms and flew back to Karasuno’s side in one fell swoop. Shouyou caught a glimpse of the setter moving smoothly into position to set even though he had just served, and Shouyou launched into the air too. The ball was suddenly at his palm and he rammed it down before the blockers had a chance to respond. But that setter Miya was there behind the blockers, as if waiting in the clearing, and bumped Shouyou’s spike to his twin. The other Miya set the ball to Ojiro-san and he spiked it down unhindered, putting an end to Kageyama’s quiet service rampage. 

The people in the stands were going nuts at this point, with the game really bringing that excitement factor in full force. Shouyou stood still for a moment, catching his breath, and listened to the commentators for a second as they were also adding a lot of commentary to the bustle in the gym, “-I must credit Atsumu-kun with an impressive dig as well! Both Kageyama Tobio and Miya Atsumu were invited to this year’s All Japan Youth Camp. They are already elite-level setters. We look forward to seeing great things from them. But it seems this game has sparks flying between those players from more than just their setting!”

Shouyou put his hands on his hips and glanced between the two setters, thinking that he could sort of see it, and agreed with the commentary. Kageyama was ridiculously competitive, anyway, and it totally looked like Miya-san was as well. It really did feel like most of the game so far had been some sort of setting and serving competition between the two.  _ But that’s good, that there are guys out there like that. I’ll just have to keep getting better and better so they’ll keep tossing to me. _

Shouyou spied the other Miya twin getting ready to serve and wondered idly if he was going to blast the ball across the net as his brother did. He heard the setter say to his brother a second later as he casually protected the back of his head with his hands, “go on and stick the dagger in ‘em for this set, ‘Samu! Oh! And in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m beating the pants off you in the service ace department today!” 

Shouyou raised his eyebrows in surprise and glanced over to the twin who was about to serve. He looked murderous, mouthing something that looked like ‘shut up’, then the whistle blew. He tossed the ball and went after it, jumping into the air and absolutely smashing the ball across the net. It didn’t even hit the court, but instead rocketed past and plowed into the scoreboard with a loud ‘ping’. 

The setter twin shouted loudly, “this ain’t a home run derby, ya klutz!” 

Shouyou blinked at them, mouth falling open in disbelief at that serve, and watched Ojiro-san smack his setter upside the head while scolding, “it’s cuz you said crap you shouldn’t have.” 

“Ow!”

Shouyou let out a breath of a laugh, then quickly looked away before his opponents noticed. Tanaka-san caught it though, but just shrugged back in his mild confusion. It was kind of funny, seeing such intimidating opponents fooling around like that. But also infuriating, as they were obviously getting comfortable with their lead in points and maybe not feeling the pressure as much as his team was trying to lay on. Shouyou didn’t like the idea of not being taken seriously, and he felt his amusement melt into a pout as the whistle blew for the serve. 

It seemed like they had the opponents on the ropes with the next rally with Inarizaki scrambling to keep the ball in the air, but Asahi-san’s successful block out turned into a net foul. Then Inarizaki decided to rest Ojiro-san, subbing him out for a completely unknown player, number one, Inarizaki’s captain. 

It was like the atmosphere on the court changed suddenly, with number one bringing in a new, scary, commanding feeling like he was some sort of great general on a battlefield. Shouyou watched him quietly make comments to his teammates before he grabbed a volleyball and got into position to serve. 

He served the ball right into a super tricky spot, directly in the seam where Kageyama moved from the back row to the front to set. Luckily, Sawamura-san got the ball up, but the angle was so bad that Kageyama’s set was a little short and Asahi-san had to spike it right into the blockers. Miya-san dove to save the tooled block and Shouyou started sprinting up the court along with his teammates in a synchronized attack. Inarizaki’s blockers looked like they fidgeted, waiting to see where Kageyama would send the ball, and didn’t make it in time to fully block Sawamura-san’s spike. However, Inarizaki’s captain readily dug the ball, sending it to Miya-san who sent it to their hitter in a quick-set. It nailed the court in a flash and Inarizaki scored, bringing them to twenty-three points.

Shouyou rotated to the back but immediately saw that Coach was subbing him out for Tadashi. He was glad since he knew the other would probably score with his jump floaters and maybe they’d get a leg up on this set. He served the ball reliably, like always since he had basically mastered the serve technique, but Inarizaki’s captain somehow shifted under it perfectly and bumped it to Miya-san. The setter snapped the ball all the way to the left to number five, who smashed it down right past Tsukki’s block. Inarizaki was at set-point. 

Shouyou stared at his teammates on the court from the sidelines along with the others as Inarizaki served. It felt like a make it or break it sort of moment and the tension on the court was at an all-time high. Ever since Inarizaki’s captain came into the game, their players had simmered down, stopped acting impulsively, and seemed to straighten up. Tanaka-san bumped their serve, but the ball flew back to the opponents’ side. Shouyou grimaced, seeing that number ten running up to spike, but Tsukki still looked calm and collected. He jumped up to block with perfect timing and positioning as always. Number ten crunched sideways like a bendy straw and smacked the ball down past his soulmate’s block. It blasted down and bounded off Kageyama’s arms with a nasty trajectory. Tanaka-san bodily dove to catch it, but was just shy of the ball and it bounced off the floor. Inarizaki successfully snatched away set two in a blink.

Everyone started shuffling over to the sidelines to take a rest before they'd switch sides for the final set. Shouyou gazed across the court at Tsukki, watching him intently after that block to see if he could guess the other’s mood. But he simply turned away and marched off towards his water bottle.  _ Are you frustrated? That guy keeps getting past you… but I know you leave no holes in your defense. So, did you figure out how to stop him yet?  _

Shouyou jogged over to his water bottle too, catching the tail end Kinoshita-san’s words as he spoke to Noya-san, “-self-penalty routine you use when you screw up during practice. C’mon! You gotta get a grip, bro! You practiced the crap out of this for weeks, you’ll be fine!”

“Yeah,” Noya-san replied quietly. Shouyou frowned and furrowed his brows at them. It was really strange that Noya-san had been so quiet, but maybe not super surprising considering how much he’d been targeted by Miya-san and his destructive jump floaters. 

“Noya,” Asahi-san walked over and spoke up, seriously, and everyone seemed to pause and listen, “I know you can do it. At least, I want to say that, but I can’t. A serve so powerful, so nasty that even  _ you  _ can’t reliably bump it. Miya Atsumu has that serve. That’s reality. I suck at trying to hype people up… I have way, way too much on my hands just trying to keep  _ myself _ together! But if I’m talking about myself, I can say things for sure. Even if it’s not a perfect pass, I’ll still punch it home!”

Shouyou gaped at him, shocked by how sincere and empowering his support was, and he turned to see Noya-san simply smiling back at the ace. 

“It doesn’t need to be a rainbow, no. But at least make it high, please,” Kageyama said abruptly, towel in hand while he wicked away his sweat.  _ Moment ruined… Bakayama. _

“Y’know, there’s this thing called timing. You need to work on it,” Shouyou commented dryly to his friend.

“Huh? What’s that?” Kageyama replied, squinting back at him critically. 

“Asahi, that was awesome!” Suga-san praised the ace, grinning, ignoring his boyfriend’s comment and now puzzled expression.

“Maaaan! I wanted to say that!” Tanaka-san sighed, and they all broke out into random, lively chit-chat amongst each other, completely disregarding the fact that they’d just lost a set.

“Kageyama, your serves were amazing!” Tadashi said in awe and the grumpy setter nodded in response. It seemed like his attention was elsewhere and Shouyou caught him gazing at Suga-san.

“‘Kageyama the Calm’ serves well,” Shouyou said wisely, taking the opportunity to poke fun at his friend while he was distracted. 

“What are you going on about this time?” Tadashi asked, looking around at Ennoshita-san too like he might know, but he just shrugged. 

“Oh, y’know! When Kageyama is in the zone!” Shouyou answered happily while Tadashi and Ennoshita-san nodded vaguely back at him in acknowledgment. He peeked around, seeing that everyone was starting to grab their stuff to switch sides and his eyes were drawn to his soulmate. Tsukki was still quietly drinking water and lounging on the bench by himself. Shouyou wondered fleetingly if the latter was already tired as he sidestepped over casually. 

“Soooo, got any ideas on how to block number ten’s counter-cross?” Shouyou asked lightly. He didn’t know if Tsukki would be in a conversational sort of mood, but it was worth a try anyway.

Tsukki looked up from his water bottle right into Shouyou’s face and peered at him a moment before replying calmly, “like I said the other night during the team meeting, the idea that the only good blocking is kill-blocking is way outdated. Remember, it’s not one versus one with hitters and blockers up on the net.. it’s one versus six. I think.. we’ve seen enough of the counter-cross-shot now, right?”

“R-right…?” Shouyou parroted and stared back. Everything Tsukki said made sense, but the soft tone threw him for a loop. It felt like he was teleported back into Tsukki’s room and the latter was calmly explaining a homework problem. 

“Okay!” Coach Ukai called out, gesturing for them to gather up, “I’m going to spin the rotation for the final set. Even if we don’t have Nishinoya in the center back when Miya Atsumu’s up to serve, it’s looking like he’s going to keep aiming at him anyway.”

“Hah! That’s gonna bite him soon!” Tanaka-san interrupted.

“Don’t get cocky. Tsukishima, I’m going to have you match up with Miya Osamu and Suna a lot more often this set.” Coach said, looking at Tsukki, who nodded.

“For the twins’ freak-quick, Coach?” Sawamura-san asked.

“Yeah. That’s the one thing that we just weren’t prepared for ahead of time. We’re counting on you, freak-quick killer!” Coach said, smirking at Tsukki.

“Oh, uh… yes, Coach,” Tsukki replied warily.

“Hinata's 'be Inuoka for a day’ commit-blocking strategy was working well enough, but that left Tanaka stranded in the center by himself having to jump for every single block. That’s gotta be exhausting…” Coach continued.

“I’d love to say it ain’t all that bad… but, bruh! It is! Blocking center is rough!” Tanaka added, crossing his arms and frowning.

Tsukki suddenly glanced over at Shouyou, smirking smugly, “oh, that’s right… that was your ‘important role’, wasn’t it? I’m sorry, did I just steal it?” But he didn’t sound sorry at all.

“Hhhhgyaarrrr!” Shouyou groaned in frustration, realizing that this was true and that he wouldn’t be commit-blocking Miya Osamu anymore because of the new rotation. He fumed to himself at missing out on doing an important job for his team's defense. He knew he’d only been moderately successful with it, but it was a bummer that the task was no longer entrusted to him.  _ Argh! Tsukki, you jerkface! You don’t have to rub it in! You were being so nice just a minute ago too!  _

He glared at Tsukki while Tanaka-san commented, “Tsukishima never misses a chance to needle a guy. That’s some dedication…” 

“I’d call him a craftsman at it,” Suga-san agreed blandly. 

“So! We have that issue to deal with, but the biggest thing is keeping number four, Ojiro Aran from getting into any sort of groove. What we’re going to do is switch things up a little. Kageyama, I’m going to put you up against him more often so we’ll have another tall wall to throw in front of him,” Coach Ukai relayed, “that’s the plan and remember to stay aggressive with your serves and hits!”

“Yes, Coach!” Everyone shouted enthusiastically, then headed towards the opposite court to switch sides. Shouyou was glad the mood didn’t seem to be too heavy after losing the second set; now they’d just have to take the last.


	14. MA

The crows across the net seemed perfectly fine, squawking away at each other boisterously, despite just suffering a pretty humiliating defeat. Atsumu sipped his water and stared with narrowed eyes across the net at his opponents; they really did seem like an unruly flock of birds. All of their attack strategies really added to the image too. Even though his team had wiped the floor with them the second set, they still showcased their surprising variety of plays; and Tobio really went wild with his serves. Atsumu imagined that they looked kind of like Ushiwaka’s with that level of brunt power, but a little different since they were exceptionally precise. His hands felt itchy for a flash, thinking of those ruthless jump serves.

“Atsumu,” Kita’s voice called out. Atsumu jolted then turned towards him slightly in question, “I bet watching Karasuno’s setter spike serving the last set had made you want to spike serve too. ‘Blowing ‘em away with a wicked spike serve is way cooler. I’m gettin’ bored with jump floaters anyway.’” 

Atsumu caught his captain’s steady, unyielding eyes, then grimaced and looked away. The guy was always so unrelentingly reliable that it was hard to deny him anything.  _ How did he know?! _

“The jump floaters are what’s workin’ right now. You’ve got their libero on the ropes. Now finish the job.” Kita instructed calmly.

“Yessir!” Atsumu replied, then the whistle blew for the start of the game and he walked over to serve first. Quickly canvassing the court, now that everyone was in position, he noticed immediately that Karasuno had spun their rotation for this set. He squinted, trying to assess how that would change the feel on the court between players, but the whistle blew again for the serve, and took his four steps beyond the endline.

The ball felt really good leaving his hand a moment later and he watched it float away like it was picked up by a gusty breeze. Karasuno’s libero and captain shouted ‘out’ as the ball floated towards the edge of the court, but it swerved at the last second and landed exactly in the corner. Atsumu grinned, pumping both his fists, then shouted, “yeeaaaaaaaah!”  _ That was the beeesst! Fine, fine, jump floaters it is! _

He snagged another ball and took another four steps behind the line, turned, then waited for the whistle. It sounded him off a second later and he jumped, chased, then smacked the ball precisely towards the edge of the net in front of that little libero. It caught the top briefly, then flew down towards the front of the court. Karasuno’s libero seemed to hesitate, but bodily lurched forward to receive the ball, sending it to their ace. The big guy smashed the ball into the blockers’ arms, scoring a point. 

The opposing captain served next, sending the ball right towards Aran which effectively took him out of the running for a spike. Atsumu frowned and snapped the ball to Osamu for a freak-quick instead. However, Tsukishima was suddenly there, completely blocking the way, and deflected the ball with a mild call out, “deflected!”

Atsumu groaned to himself in annoyance, clearly seeing the purpose of the rotation spin now. It was to match up that tall, blonde, blocking machine against his best spikers and fun new freak-quick. The ball came pummeling back towards their court from a spike by that samurai ace and Atsumu got under it nimbly. He bumped it up smoothly to Osaumu, calling out his name, “‘Samu!”

His twin jumped into the air to meet the ball with a perfect spiking form, leading the blockers to jump too, but at the last second, he swiveled his body back around and set the ball to Aran instead. Atsumu grinned widely at the stunt, watching the ball easily zip through the air towards their ace. He smacked the ball down immediately, but it ricocheted off of a pair of arms that were suddenly impeding the way. Tobio had apparently read the situation and jumped to block Aran, completely stuffing him. Atsumu scoffed, both annoyed and intrigued that Tobio was so good that he could literally play any position exceptionally well.

That didn’t mean they’d have to put that fun freak-quick on the back burner though, and Atsumu snapped another one right to Osamu after the very next bumped serve. Their captain dug the hit and the ball flew back over the net towards Suna. Tsukishima was right there too, persistently throwing up that tall wall, but Suna simply spiked around him as he had for nearly the entire game so far. That captain was at it again though and dug the ball for a second time in a row, bumping it to Tobio, who whisked it away to their ace. The huge guy plowed the ball down so forcefully that it ricocheted off of Gin’s arms with a loud whap, giving the point to Karasuno.

Atsumu put his hands on his hips, peering across the net at the other players, and heard Suna abruptly speak out to Tsukishima, “hey. Thanks for giving me a nice, clear hitting lane every time.”

The blonde gazed back at him for a moment, stony, before smiling genially, “no, no, thank  _ you _ for hitting  _ exactly how I expected you to _ every time.”

He kept up that polite, sweet sort of countenance for a second longer, then dropped it and traipsed off to switch out with a pinch-server, leaving Suna looking wholly irked.  _ Yeesh, the sass on that one… why do I get the impression he’s up to somethin’? .. and why is their captain just as good at bumpin’ the ball as their libero?! This team’s got more weirdo players in random positions than I’ve ever seen.  _

Their random pinch-server had a decent enough jump floater too, but Osamu bumped it easily. Atsumu smirked and sent the ball zipping away to Aran who slammed it down right next to the guy in a flash, cutting him off in one. 

But Karasuno still had a one-point lead, and Aran served the next ball right to their libero, seemingly on accident. The ball pinged their court so rapidly in the next moment that it took Atsumu a second to realize that their blockers didn’t even remotely react in time to catch Hinata. 

Atsumu didn’t have a chance to dwell on the zippy squirt as Tobio was up to serve next. He sort of wanted to see another cannon blast shot, regardless of the fact that it would be hard for his teammates to receive. However, the surly guy smashed the ball purposely into the top of the net and it fell right next to Atsumu, bouncing off the court before he could save it. The whistle blew, then, abruptly calling a time-out. Atsumu gnashed his teeth together moodily and stalked off towards the benches with the rest of his teammates. Karasuno was on a roll with a three-point lead now, and it looked like Coach was trying to disrupt Tobio’s service concentration any way he could. Atsumu mused to himself that it probably wouldn’t work as he took a quick sip from his water bottle, peering across the net at the rival setter. 

The break didn’t ruin Tobio’s momentum, but luckily Akagi bumped the blast of a serve just fine. Atsumu readily sent it to Gin, who scored and knocked Tobio out of the serving spot. 

Atsumu walked to the back of the court, taking a ball and idly hearing the crowd cheering, shouting ‘aaaim for the ace!’ But he didn’t want to aim for any ace. He wanted to continue to grind down that little libero. He glanced across the net, seeing Karasuno looking resolutely determined while their captain and buzz-cut ace shouted, “bring it oooooon!”  _ Imma blow your little hands right off your wrists! _

He threw the ball into the air, jumped, and pummeled it straight at the libero. It zoomed through the air without a spin, but like a rocket on a crashing-landing trajectory; the libero threw his arms up above his head. He pushed it, overhanded, sending it to Tobio in a perfect arc. Then all the crows started running up in that synchronized attack. The blockers took a moment too long to see where the ball was going because of Tobio’s perfect form and jumped too late to block the samurai ace’s spike. Karasuno’s players went nuts, cheering and celebrating that single point with each other. Atsumu peered at them, frowning and grumpy since they had cut him off in one serve. It was the worst feeling, only getting to deliver one serve per rotation. 

Karasuno subbed out their really good jump-floater pinch-server next and he smacked the ball over nearly as quickly as Atsumu usually would. His teammates had trouble getting the ball into the air, and it went flying back across the net. All their opponents started approaching again, jumping into the air at the same time, but the ace got to hit the ball. Akagi received the blast, barely, and shouted, “sorry, Atsumu! Follow up!” 

The bump was really low, much lower than the net even, but Atsumu didn’t want to give this rally up to Karasuno once again just because the receive was a hot mess. He stepped carefully and lunged down close to the floor, getting right under the ball, heedless to the strain in his thighs by the stretch of his muscles. It brushed perfectly against his fingertips and he lobbed it to Osamu in a quick set. His twin nailed it down the opposing court before a full block could be formed to stop him and they scored.

Atsumu smiled and straightened up smoothly, then slapped hands with Osamu for that great spike while cheering, “woo-wooo!”

“Why didn’t you just dig it like a normal person?” Suna asked blandly and Atsumu turned his attention to him in confusion.

“Uh, cuz I’m a  _ setter. _ It’s my job to set the ball. Duh,” he answered bluntly, “so I took the ball and set it at just the right spot for my hitter.”

“Aaaaand…?”

“Well, with a dig all you’ve got is two arms. But going overhand means you’ve got ten fingers to use,” Atsumu continued, a smile creeping up on his face, and he wondered how this wasn’t obvious, “ten is more than two. More support is better. So I went overhand… cuz I’m a setter.”

Suna nodded vaguely, squinting back at him uneasily, but Atsumu didn’t really care what the other thought of his methods. As long as it was possible to put the ball up in the most optimal way a hitter could reach it confidently, then that was the answer. It was really as simple as that.

Coach subbed in Riseki to serve again instead of Suna and he managed to pull off a no-touch service ace. Then the whistle blew, signaling that Karasuno called a time-out; probably to break Riseki’s focus. However, it didn’t work as he slammed the ball over again just as fiercely. It was picked up by Tanaka, flying a bit too high and close to the net. Aran sprang into the air and smashed it down, right behind Tsukishima who had attempted to jump in time to block. That impromptu spike made them even with each team having eleven points. 

Riseki served again, but Karasuno’s captain dug it readily and sent it to Tobio. The setter whipped it to Tsukishima in the same lane for a quick-attack and the blonde smacked it down sharply between the blockers. Atsumu watched his teammate switch with Suna again and start talking excitedly with the others on the sidelines. He turned his attention to the opponents and saw that the samurai ace was up to serve again.  _ Really not catchin’ a break with these serves probably, huh? _

Luckily, the guy’s aim was just slightly off and pummeled the court just outside the line. Then it was Osamu’s turn and he waited right up until the very last second after the whistle to send the ball over, like always. The samurai ace dug the ball and got it to Tobio, who lobbed it up in a beautiful arc to Tanaka all the way on the left. Tanaka smacked the ball down in an attempted cut-shot, but Omimi utterly stuffed him. 

“Server up!” Atsumu shouted to his brother, wanting him to keep up the momentum and rack up the points. 

“I know!” He yelled back, clearly annoyed at being bothered. But it really would be best if they could maintain their lead.  _ We’re what? Second in the nation? Or was it third? Ah, who cares which it was? It doesn’t matter. That was all yesterday. _

Atsumu watched the ball zoom across the net then get bumped messily by the ace. Tanaka hustled to save it, calling out for Tobio to hit and sending it his way, but Atsumu was stuck in his thoughts.  _ Yesterday is gone. Yesterday and the day before and the day before that. They’ve all been converted into muscle.  _

The blockers closed off the line-shot and Tobio tipped it over in a fast feint right at Atsumu, forcing him to make the first contact. Atsumu lunged for the ball, bumping it to Osamu by muscle memory, and caught his eyes for a flash of a second.  _ What matters is this… what are we gonna do today?  _

Atsumu took a few steps backward, then skipped forward lightly and launched into the air too. Osamu snapped the ball right over and Atsumu slapped it down in a reverse, minus-tempo quick-attack. Karasuno was so taken by surprise that they didn’t even budge to receive the ball, and Atsumu peered at them through the net while he landed. He blinked and turned on his brother in excitement, thrilled that they came up with a new striking strategy off the cuff that was loud enough to shake up the crows. 

He beamed at the other for a second, exhilaration still fresh in the air then commented, “that was low and short.”

“Hey! Quit askin’ for the universe!” Osamu griped back hotly, “I ain’t a setter, y’know!” 

“Anyways, think we can pull off the ‘sky love hurricane’ play next? I think we can!”

“Ooh! Good one! You get bottom.” Osamu replied dryly.

“Huh? Hell nah! That’s your role!” Atsumu yelled back. He wondered if this was too much, trying to intimidate their opponents with baseless mystery plays after coming away from the potentially real threat of the reverse freak-quick.

He heard Karasuno’s coach shout from the sidelines, “that was a fluke! Don’t let it bother you! Shake it off and move on!”

Atsumu peeked across the net again, noting that several of Karasuno’s players still looked really disturbed, uneasy.  _ You guys are feeling down now, ain’tcha. Not only did we steal the lead back, we hit ya with something you never expected. Startin’ to feel a little panic, I bet. You’re just itching to do something to turn things around. Times like this, you want a power play. Slam home a big spike to hype the team back up again, right? I bet that’s exactly what you want. You’ll do anything to make that spike count. Well, we’ll do anything to stop it, harder.  _

Atsumu refocused on the moment and jumped to block the samurai ace’s spike, stuffing him. But the next second he heard the whistle and looked to the referee; apparently, he accidentally touched the net so the point went to Karasuno anyway. But that didn’t take away from the feel of it all that weighed heavily with the frustration of being shut down after trying to get up again.

“Augh! Damnit, sorry! Got carried away!” Atsumu apologized profusely, knowing that he got too distracted by his thoughts and wasn’t careful enough in the moment, breaking their point streak.

“Lame,” Osamu said blandly. 

Atsumu rolled his eyes, knowing that Osamu rarely took his sincerity seriously even if it was genuine sometimes, and looked back around at Karasuno, seeing that Hinata was rotating to the front row again. The squirt had been pretty quiet this set so far, which sort of made Atsumu’s skin crawl. 

Almost as if the thought had actualized itself, Hinata flung himself up and above the blockers, then rammed the ball down for a point in just the next rally.  _ I need to trip up the squirt before he gets on a roll… and I reeeally wanna serve again. _

Tobio served next, blasting the ball over nastily right at Osamu who barely got arms under it in time. It smacked off the twin and sailed completely back over the net. Tobio was there smoothly, suddenly, to set it to their captain and he spiked the ball down. Akagi bumped it, but it looked long like it could go back over the net again and Atsumu jumped, seeing that he may be able to simply tip it over. He maneuvered his body for the dump, but changed positioning at the last possible moment, intending to set the ball instead. Just as he anticipated, the ball’s trajectory really lent itself for a lot of options up on the net, which led to Hinata and Tanaka reaching over to block. They successfully stuffed the ball but as soon as everyone was back on the ground, the referee called the reach-over foul and gave the point to Inarizaki. Atsumu smirked to himself and walked to the endline as it was finally his turn to serve again.  _ Hah! Gotcha! _

He took six steps, then waited for the whistle. It sounded a second later and he tossed the ball, jumped, then put all his force behind his hand as he hit it over. The ball zoomed over to the opposite corner and Karasuno’s captain threw himself into its path. It rebounded off his arms so hard that it sped right back over the net and landed neatly in the corner of Inarizaki’s court. Atsumu groaned, rubbing his hands down his face for a second before glaring at the captain through the net. Even he seemed shocked like he hadn’t expected the ball to be so compliant either. At least the squirt was rotated into the back row now and they’d stopped him from racking up the points while he was in the front. 

Hinata served the ball normally, sending it right to Aran, who bumped it, no problem. Atsumu smiled at the pass as it was really clean and he would have several options for who to send it to now. He zipped it off to the left to Gin, who smacked it down, but Tsukishima was abruptly there. The ball rebounded off the blonde’s hands and flew back towards their court. Atsumu heard Akagi call out ‘got it!’, but he was also right in a really convenient spot. He quickly got under the ball before Akagi could and shouted out to his brother before lobbing the ball to him. Osamu was already in the air and Atsumu glanced around to see that Tsukishima was also jumping up to block already. Atsumu thought for a flash of a second that Osamu was going to be stuffed, but his twin surprised him by swiftly setting the ball to the left to Aran, who went to slam it down unhindered by blockers. Atsumu laughed, delighted by the ploy, and heard Tsukishima say, “what?!”

His disbelief went unanswered as the ball went flying down to the floor. Then, out of nowhere, Hinata was there in the perfect spot to catch it. The squirt lunged down low and took the ball with his arms, perfectly redistributing its powerful momentum with his body, and sending it back up into the air in a stunning rainbow of a pass. The force behind the ball sent him somersaulting backward, but he hopped back up immediately and started sprinting up with the rest of the crows in a synchronized counter-attack. Atsumu gnashed his teeth angrily as he watched them run, hearing Tobio call out ‘nice dig’, and his coach shout something like ‘stop them!’  _ Argh! I really hate these damn synchronized attacks! _

Atsumu watched carefully as Tobio set the ball to number three, then lunged sideways unsteadily to dig it, shouting, “back me up!”

Osamu saved it and shouted out to Gin to spike, but Karasuno formed their triple block up so rapidly that the ball pinged off the tips of Tsukishima’s fingers, wildly careening towards the back of the court. Atsumu followed the ball with his eyes as it flew way out of bounds, expecting it to finally hit the ground. But that squirt was incomprehensibly there, again, zipping through the air like a comet and bumping the ball while absolutely shrieking, “Kaaageeyaamaaa!”

Atsumu gaped at Karasuno across the net, watching them all running up for yet another synchronized attack; Hinata included. He was stunned for a fraction of a second by just how incredibly fast that guy was, but shook himself of the shock and crouched down to receive a ball. Tobio sent it to Tanaka, who slammed it down past the blockers, but Aran got his arms under it in time. It went flying off of them erratically, and Atsumu went to chase it down along with Akagi, who stuck his foot out in a last-ditch effort to prevent it from hitting the floor. It bounced off and went flying right back towards the edge of the net. Atsumu swiveled back around to see if it made it over or not. It seemed a little wobbly, flying through the air, barely clearing the net, but fell to the floor with a few soft thumps. A few of Karasuno’s players had dived to catch it a little too late, clearly thinking it would have gone further across, but Inarizaki scored the point anyway. 

Atsumu stared across the net at his opponents, breathing a little rough from the crazy rally, and analyzed their intensely defeated expressions. Karasuno’s coach called a time-out and Atsumu lingered by the net, hearing him say, “if you screwed up, yeah, you should feel guilty. But none of you messed up. This once the other guys were just better. Tip your hats to them and move on!”

Regardless of the advice, they still looked nearly destroyed, but Hinata suddenly shouted excitedly, completely steamrolling the mood, “Kageyama! Didja see that? Didja? Huh? Didja see my awesome dig? Well?! Didja?!”

Tobio looked back at the squirt sourly, squinting at him and frowning, “I saw nothing.” 

“You… you lying liar-liar pants!” Hinata shrieked, “don’t think I didn’t hear you say ‘nice dig’, ‘cause I totally did!”

“Ugh! Okay, then!” Tobio shouted back tersely.

“You’d better be watching when I do it again!” Hinata shouted ecstatically, gesturing behind himself towards the court. Atsumu grimaced, watching the crows’ faces light up in laughter at their energetic teammate. 

“Nice dig, Shouyou!” Their libero called out cheerily, giving a hearty thumbs up and they all broke out in laughter again. They appeared to be clawing their way out of their funk, and it seemed kind of foreboding. 

“Y’know? It’s like he’s chowin’ down on some good grub,” Osamu said, then took a sip of water. 

Atsumu glanced back at him briefly and plopped down on the bench next to him, “what? Your mind still on food? We’re in the middle of a game, ya know?”

“It’s like goin’ to a good all-you-can-eat yakiniku buffet. You stuff yourself so full you think you won’t touch another bite for at least a whole ‘nother week… but then you wake up the mornin’ and you’ve got a hankerin’ for even more yakiniku. It’s like that.” Osamu explained, gazing at the crows across the net. 

Atsumu followed his gaze, leading to Shouyou, and peered at the other also before replying, “for you maybe. Me, I want some curry or sushi after I’ve had Yakiniku.”

“We eat two, three, or four times every day. But hours later we’re starvin’ again. Every time we get some good grub, it’s the greatest feeling. Every time! That feeling never fades or gets dull, no matter how many times it happens. It’s like that.” Osamu continued, ignoring his brother's opinions. 

Atsumu frowned, a little perplexed where all this chit-chat was coming from, especially since Osamu seemed so serious, “that’s true, I guess. You’ll eat  _ anythin’ _ ... and every time, you tuck right in like it’s the greatest experience of your life. Even when it’s stuff like cold rice balls or soggy ramen noodles.”

“He’s the same way,” Osamu said, then dragged his eyes away from the squirt and peered at Atsumu like he wanted to telepathically get his point across, “he plays volleyball like he’s eatin’ good grub.”

The whistle blew, and they both stood up to take their positions on the court once again. Atsumu took a moment to consider what his twin had said. It kind of made him a little irked that Shouyou had snagged so much of his brother’s attention.  _ Why are ya so suddenly interested in that guy? I knew he was interestin’ from the start, you don’t hafta tell me that.  _

“Hey ‘Sumu. Didja know? If you eat just one bite of somethin’ when you’re really hungry,” Osamu commented while they walked, “it only makes you that much hungrier.”  _ Duh, I know that much. _

Gin served the ball over next, but Tanaka bumped it easily to Tobio. The setter waited until the last possible second before zipping it to their samurai ace, who smashed it down into Osamu’s arms, scoring a point. Atsumu frowned and peered across the net at his opponents, who were definitely not as deflated as they should be.  _ Ugh.. and then others see you chowin’ down on a big ol’ bite, they start gettin’ real hungry too. _

Coach subbed in Kita again, and Atsumu waited for his reliable serve. It flew over a moment later but it was bumped by Karasuno’s captain back over the net. Atsumu got under it fluidly and sent it to Suna, who smashed it right past Tsukishima’s tall block. However, their little libero dug it, sending it flying back over the net where Akagi bumped it, calling out, “got it!”

Atsumu hopped into the air, feeling the ball brush against his hands before he sent it zinging away to Suna once again. This time, his teammate slammed it down unimpeded as Tsukishima didn’t quite jump to block in time. 

“You gotta work on your stamina,” Suna commented mildly to Tsukishima through the net. Atsumu couldn’t tell if his teammate was trying to taunt the tall blonde or not, but the latter didn’t seem too bothered anyway.

“... yes. I do,” Tsukishima responded listlessly before walking away. Atsumu squinted at him, curious how his nonchalance seemed so in opposition to his tenacity.  _ Does this guy just not get hungry then? Even just a nibble? Argh! Damnit ‘Samu! Now I can’t stop thinkin’ in food terms! _

The next ball was spiked down harshly by Tanaka, but Suna bumped it, sending it back over the net. Tsukishima called out, ‘it’s coming back!’, and all the crows jumped in a synchronized attack. Tobio whipped the ball to the blonde, but it seemed like he was a little lower than he intended to be and he completely missed. It landed with a few thumps on their court, giving the point to Inarizaki.

“Sorry-“

“Would you not apologize, please? It’s disturbing. Besides, it was my fault for not getting enough height,” Tsukishima said quietly, angrily, seemingly distracted in his own head.

“Shut up,” Tobio griped back in a huff, crossing his arms petulantly, “I’m the one who misjudged the height. It’s my mistake.”

“It’s amazing how you can say that while making it sound like the complete opposite,” Tsukishima commented and Tobio just gazed back at him for a few seconds. 

“Anyway… you still good?” The setter asked, calmly this time.

“Of course,” the blonde replied coolly.

“Okay, guys! Let’s get the next one!” Their captain abruptly called out to the rest with shouts of ‘yeah!’ following it up. Atsumu frowned and turned away to get back into position.  _ Guess he’s not lettin’ up even though he’s runnin’ on fumes. _

The samurai ace stood behind the endline, waiting for the whistle and clenching his fist open and closed. A tweet later, the guy pounded the ball across the net in a no-touch service ace and Atsumu stared at him. It was amazing how he had so much power towards the tail end of the game and Atsumu took a second to think back on the rest of the other’s serves thus far.  _ Karasuno’s samurai probably started out at only eighty percent power and has been slowly ratcheting it up across the game… and now here, at the game’s tail end, he’s finally got his aim lined up, and he’s lettin’ loose at full strength! _

Atsumu watched number three walk back to the endline to serve again, then commented to Osamu, “hey, ‘Samu? I’m startin’ to feel hungry!”

“Me too, ‘Sumu,” 

Then the ace pounded the ball over again just like before, except Kita bumped it this time around. Atsumu got under the ball and sent it quickly to Aran, who smacked it roughly into the double block. The ball deflected off of Tsukishima’s fingers and went flying off towards Karasuno’s court. Tanaka saved it and bumped it to Tobio, who snapped it to that samurai ace an instant later. He slapped the ball down past Osamu’s block, but Atsumu threw his arms up in front of his face just in the nick of time. It buffeted off his forearms painfully, but he managed to send it back towards his twin before taking a few steps backward.  _ Man, this is it… I can feel it. Now’s the time. Right now is always when opportunity comes knockin’! _

He jumped into the air from the back row and felt the ball swish right by, missing it completely. Luckily, Kita dove forward and saved the blunder, lobbing the ball back over to Karasuno’s side. Their captain picked it up and Tobio got under it smoothly as all crows sprinted up the court for a synchronized attack. They all flew through the air with zero floor defense for backup and it looked entirely obvious that Tsukishima would get that ball right over the center. However, it sailed right by him to their captain in the back row, but the same lane as the blonde, and he bonked the ball over forcibly. It flew over the net, low and long, then ricocheted off of Kita’s arms, scoring Karasuno a point. Atsumu scoffed to himself, peeking at the scoreboard and seeing that Karasuno had caught up; now they were dead even at twenty points. 

The samurai ace served his rocket again a moment later and it pelted the edge of the net, tipping over slowly. Akagi threw himself forward to save it, sending it flying up towards the net again and Atsumu jumped to try to catch it in time to set. As if out of nowhere, Tsukishima was already hovering over the net with his long arms, knocking the ball back down into the ground, scoring the point for Karasuno. Atsumu landed back down and leered at the blonde through the net haughtily, but the other just gave him a mild, upward tilt of his lips before walking away. 

They put a stop to the number three’s serving spree in the next rally with Omimi really flying through the air to spike a ball down above Tsukishima. Then it was Osamu’s service again, and the next few rallies felt like an unabating sort of back and forth see-saw ride all the way up to twenty-two points each.

Atsumu jumped up to set the ball, feeling the intensity of Karasuno’s eyes on his back, and he twisted his arm in the last millisecond to tip it over instead. It fell behind Shouyou, who spun around and stared at the loss in idle bemusement. Atsumu laughed lightly to himself at the expression as Aran went to the endline to serve.  _ He sure is fun to play with. _

The whistle sounded a moment later and Aran sent the ball barreling over the net. Their ace received it, but it came back immediately. Gin launched upwards and slammed it down right past Tobio’s outstretched hand before it went any further, bringing them to match-point. 

The samurai ace caught Aran’s next serve too, but the force of it took him out of the running for a spike. Despite the unstable bump, Tobio got under the ball and whisked it away beautifully to Tanaka all the way on the left. Atsumu and Omimi jumped in tandem to block and shut the buzz-cut ace out completely. The ball sped to the floor, but their libero knocked it back into the air towards Tobio with a single arm, shouting, “Kageyama!”

Tobio lunged forward and received the ball with his forearms, sending it behind himself along the length of the net. Atsumu snapped his attention to the right, seeing Shouyou bolting up like lightning in a super-freak quick attack. He struck the ball down in an instant and Aran threw himself at it. It ricocheted off his body a few feet to the right and super low to the ground. Atsumu looked over his shoulder at the falling ball for a flash before pivoting around squatting even lower to get under it properly. He felt it touch his fingertips evenly before he pushed it away towards Gin, who smacked it down. Their libero somehow bumped it and sent it neatly back to Tobio. He jumped to meet the ball and set it perfectly, stunningly all the way to the left pin again. It took a second or two to fly the length of the court and Tanaka took the time to get a good approach before hurling himself into the air, coming face to face with the blockers, and relentlessly slicing the ball down in a super-sharp line-shot. Tanaka loudly celebrated his shot with a ‘yaaaahh!’ while the libero and squirt tackled him excitedly, screaming too. But most of Atsumu’s attention was on Tobio, who hadn’t budged from his position. He stood there looking serene, resolved while bringing his hands together in solidarity.  _ Whoa, whoa, whoa… who is this kid? Where’d sweet lil’ Mr. Goody-two-shoes go? Really, what happened in the few weeks since camp?! _

Atsumu watched the rival setter walk to the end of the court, fully focused like there was nothing else going on in the entire gymnasium except for his service. A moment after the whistle, he absolutely rammed the ball across the net so powerfully that it blasted off Osamu’s arms and went soaring away, bringing the game into a deuce. 

Then it was time for round two, and Tobio swirled the ball idly in his hands, waiting for the whistle. He still looked completely unshakeable and as soon as the whistle sounded, he tossed the ball up steadily. He chased it, jumped, and it appeared as if he was going to smash another over just like the first with his arm drawing back like a bow. But he slowed his arm at the last millisecond and bonked the ball over in a net serve. Atsumu, Akagi, and Osamu all scrambled after the ball, collectively not expecting that kind of serve, and Osamu managed to bump it up over the net. Tobio slid under it and zipped it to Shouyou who seemed like he had teleported there, hanging mid-air before he smacked the ball down. He was already so high, one beat ahead already, and the ball flew down sharply over the twins’ reaching hands. Atsumu landed and blinked, realizing that Karasuno was at match point now. 

Aran managed to receive Tobio’s next serve, sending to the front row, and Atsumu jumped nimbly to set the ball. He waited as long as possible before snapping it to Gin in a quick-set. Gin slapped it down through the blockers, scoring a point and they were even again. 

The next rally was a struggle for both sides, with what felt like endless deflections and saves on repeat, until the ball went flying back towards their court from Karasuno’s. Tobio went flying too, trying to reach the ball before Suna could smack it back over. He barely must have gotten a single finger on it because it started tipping, falling, back down even with Shouyou hovering in the air right next to him. It plummeted before Shouyou could get a hand on it, but he whirled his leg around and kicked it over the net. It fell untouched again since everyone was still in disarray from the length of the rally, and brought Karasuno to match-point once again. The squirt landed sloppily on his hands and balls of his feet, then popped back up and cheered, “hoooaaaaa!” 

Atsumu could only stare, completely taken in by it all after such a rush of a rally, and heard Tobio growl out towards his teammate, “complain already, damnit!”

Shouyou paused and gave his full attention to his setter, smiling unabashedly bright, “complain? Why would I? Gimme the next one too!”

Tobio just grimaced back moodily, staring the squirt down. Atsumu simply watched the whole exchange, putting his hands on his hips and catching his breath.  _ And here I’d thought there was nothin’ left in the world that Tobio seemed scared of… but I guess the guys out there who’ll push you to your limits and beyond, don’t necessarily gotta be on the other team. It doesn’t matter if it’s short or if it’s low. He doesn’t care if it’s too close to the net either. If his setter gave his all putting that ball up, he’ll take it every time. I think I’m actually moved, Shouyou-kun. _

It felt like deja vu, receiving another serve, jumping, setting, and sending the ball away to Suna, who slammed it down between the blockers, scoring them a point. All of it leading up to them being even again at twenty-six and Atsumu considered for a moment if the crows would drag this out past thirty. His thoughts lingered there on that notion for a second, while he took in the noise from the stands. This late in the game, it would definitely be annoying to try to focus and serve in this chaos. He raised his hand and made a fist, silencing them, before he heard the whistle and tossed the ball. Everything felt really good about this particular toss, and he jumped and smacked the ball without a spin, sending it floating away towards the center of the opposing court. It swerved uneasily and pinged off of Karasuno’s captain’s hands, scoring a service ace. Atsumu pumped his fists, reveling in another successful serve even so late in the game, “woooooo!”

He heard Karasuno’s coach call out through the cheering crowds, “yo! We aren’t looking for a miracle here, y’know?”

The captain laughed then, taking a deep breath and saying to his teammates, “sheesh! We go through this every time, don’t we?” 

Tanaka started laughing too and Atsumu gazed at them through the net before the whistle blew again. This time, he smashed the ball across the net directly in the seam between them. The captain got in the way of the ball, managing to send it back up towards the net but it was flying fast and high as if it would simply soar right back over. Shouyou was already launching into the air relentlessly, snagging Atsumu’s eyes to follow, and Tobio followed too, barely getting his fingertips on the ball to change its trajectory. He nudged it over in a snappy, pretty, little arc and Shouyou nailed the court with it in a blink.

“Hah!” Atsumu laughed, a little incredulous at the sight.

“What?!” Osamu asked, also looking skeptically across the net at the freak-duo.

“That ain’t no faith. He doesn’t trust his setter. Nuh-uh. He expects it. He expects that ball to be up there for him, right on time. He looks at his setter and says, ‘you’re gonna do it, right?’” Atsumu said gleefully.  _ You’ve got my sympathies, Tobio-kun. That’s one scary, scary partner you’ve got there.  _

“Well, yeah. What’s so weird about that?” Osamu chimed in after a beat, breaking Atsumu of his thoughts.

“Geez, people! How ‘bout you have a little sympathy and consideration for others, huh?” Atsumu complained.

“... uh, that wasn’t very funny,” Osamu replied dryly, bemused like he thought the other couldn’t be serious about what he’d said. 

“It wasn’t a joke!” Atsumu protested, but Osamu just shrugged in return.

Luckily, Shouyou rotated to the back right afterward, but Tsukishima was in the front again. Atsumu groaned, feeling like scoring points of these guys when the blonde was in the front was like pulling teeth. However, Suna was right there in the front too, so maybe it wouldn’t be that bad and they could get around him. 

No sooner than the idea left his head than Tsukishima jumped the block Suna up on the net. The guy looked exhausted but firmly closed off the line-shot, which made Suna take the counter-cross instead. He smacked it down successfully, but Shouyou was eerily there out of thin air, in just the right spot to receive the spike. The ball flew flawlessly back to Tobio while Shouyou immediately ran and jumped into the air along with the samurai ace to spike. The ace got the ball and hit it down in a cross-shot to avoid the blockers that were up in time to stop him. Akagi dug the ball, sent it to Atsumu, then it was zinging to Gin to spike. He smacked it, hard, right into Tsukishima’s hand as the middle blocker barreled sideways with his arms extended to get in its path. The ball deflected off cleanly and flew away again towards the back of Karasuno’s court. Tanaka dove to save it, sending it back to Tobio, who jumped into the air and tossed it all the way to the left edge of the court in an easy, high arc. The samurai ace jumped and paused mid-air before he absolutely plowed the ball into the triple block, sending it careening away, unstoppable. 

Atsumu bent over slightly, calming his breathing for a second before the whistle for Shouyou’s next serve. They couldn’t let Karasuno take this next point or it’d be the end, but it was hard not to let those Karasuno first-years capture all of his focus and run away with it. His own teammates looked wiped, but they weren’t slacking. It was more like they were still hungry to win, starving even.  _ Lettin’ some snot-nosed first-years get me riled up over every little thing. Hah! High school’s number one setter, my ass. Still, I’ve got it good. I can feel his eyes boring into my skull. ‘Give it to me,’ he’s thinkin’. ‘I’ll make it count.’ It feels like he’s gearin’ up to kill that ball. And usin’ all that just as a decoy? Now that’s what you call luxury. _

Despite having Osamu in the perfect spot to nail that minus-tempo-quick, Atsumu sent the ball to Suna, tricking the blockers across the net. Suna scored, bringing them even in points again. 

“No way am I lettin’ my attacks get bumped all day long,” Atsumu commented darkly to Suna as they got back into position.

“Uh, I’m the one doing the attacking, thanks,” he replied blandly, but Atsumu didn’t care. 

In a blink, each side managed to rack up more points until they were neck and neck again at thirty. Osamu served the ball, but the samurai ace received it, sending it flying high towards the net. It looked as if it really would go back over, but Tobio jumped high enough to match it to set. The blockers paused, waiting to see where it would end up flinging next with all the crows jumping into the air to hit, but Tobio twisted ever so slightly and tipped it over his shoulder; it hit the floor undisturbed a second later. Atsumu caught Tobio smirking in a flash before the expression disappeared into blankness.  _ Damn sneaky setter move! _

Tsukishima was up to serve next, and Atsumu peered at him through the net. The blonde wasn’t a good server at all and usually put in just enough effort to make sure it landed safely on the opposing court. He bonked the ball over at the whistle and it sailed right to the net towards Aran neatly, but barely made it past the edge. In fact, it wasn’t a safe serve in the least and could have very easily not made it at all. Aran looked surprised and lunged forward awkwardly to save it. He managed to give it some height, but it fumbled along Omimi then Gin before it went flying back over the net. Tsukishima bumped it back to Tobio while the rest of the crows made their approach. The setter zipped it to the squirt, who slapped it down, but Akagi saved it by the skin of his teeth. Suddenly, it was like all of Karasuno was sprinting full force down a hill to win some sort of race to the bottom, gaining untamed speed as they went with how fast they were putting up their attacks; all Inarizaki could do was race too, tumbling along with their momentum.

Aran smashed the ball down, but it was dug by Karasuno’s captain, then Tobio got under it. He sent it to Tanaka and the buzz-cut ace slammed it against the blockers’ splayed fingers in a rebound. Atsumu watched to see who’d snag the ball next like it was some sort of competition to see which side could attack faster and the crows were starting to look manic. 

“Got it!” Shouyou shouted out suddenly as he got under the ball and bumped it high into the air with a slow, easy arc; and it was as if the entire court paused and took a collective breath. Then the crows all started mobbing the net at once, approaching to hit as Tobio jumped to set. He snapped it to the left for Tanaka, who smacked it down and into a double block. Atsumu watched the ball fall down and was almost sure he’d successfully stuffed the ace, but Tobio knocked it up with his fist. Tsukishima dove after it, nudging it upwards just a little more with the very tips of his fingers, and their captain had thrown himself after the ball too, saving it in a desperate diving receive. The ball flew back over the net, right up front and Akagi caught it, sending it quickly to Atsumu to set. He glanced around fleetingly, seeing that Osamu was already jumping into the air from the back row. They hadn’t pulled off the back-row minus-tempo quick-set before, regardless of how many times they bluffed that they could, but Atsumu knew they could do it now.  _ This position, this timing, this angle.. perfecto!  _

Atsumu snapped the ball right into Osamu's expectant palm and his twin smashed it forward instantly. Abruptly, there were four arms barring the way as Tobio and Shouyou had sprung up too, somehow miraculously reading the play and jumping to intercept. The ball crashed against their hands and rebounded back to Inarizaki’s side. Atsumu swiveled around to watch its slow-motion descent. It tapped against the floor then the whistle blew, signaling that it was in and the game was over. Karasuno came out on top. 

It sort of felt like everyone in the gym was holding their breath in disbelief that the match was over. Atsumu most definitely was while he stood there in frozen shock. Then the deafening sound of everything in the gym came crashing down all around him, burying his surprise at losing the game, and bringing him back into the present. He took a deep breath, realizing he had been holding back.

“Hey, ‘Sumu? I think we might’ve messed around a bit too much,” Osamu said blankly like he was still mildly bewildered as well and coming to terms with it. 

Atsumu gazed at his brother for a second, then looked back across the net at the exhilarated crows, “yeah… I think so too, ‘Samu.” 

It seemed like only a second later and it was time to line up, shake hands, and thank the opponents for the game. 

Atsumu found himself across from Tobio and he grabbed the other’s hand, giving it a firm shake under the net, “see ya later, Tobio-kun.”

“Oh. Sure,” Tobio replied politely, shaking back. 

Atsumu let go and started to walk away but spotted that squirt wobbling slightly and called out to him, “Shouyou-kun.”

“Yes…?” Shouyou answered, gazing back at him, and looking drop-dead exhausted. 

“One day, I’m gonna set for you,” Atsumu told him bluntly, pointing for emphasis. The squirt stared back through the net in a wide-eyed daze. Atsumu then turned on heel and walked away, saying, “but before that happens, I’m gonna whup the pants off ya in next year’s Interhigh, so you’d better be ready.”

He joined Osamu who was apparently waiting for him by the edge of the court and the other said smugly, “loser’s last attempt to look cool, huh?”

Then they survived thanking the cheering section for their support, to which Atsumu was surprised they received any applause at all since they lost; and finally, they survived a chat with their captain, who didn’t seem all that bothered by losing and encouraged them to strive to compete against more guys like Karasuno in the future. The tournament was really over for them then, and they would just have to wait until the next time to try to play more seriously.

Atsumu found himself standing with Osamu outside the gymnasium, ladened with his bag and waiting for the bus. He stared at the sky, reflecting on their match and the players.  _ Even though we lost, I think I’d do the whole thing all over again. Just to see those guys in action again. _

“Hey, ‘Samu,” Atsumu spoke up to his brother. 

The twin was scrolling through his phone idly while they waited and he looked up briefly, “yeah, ‘Sumu?”

“They really were somethin’, huh? Especially that lil’ squirt. I just thought he had some great hops, but the way he received those balls and demanded those sets like that… real interestin’.” Atsumu commented. 

Osamu didn’t take his attention off his phone, but answered, “yeah, he kinda nibbles away atcha, huh?”

“I’m thinkin’ he’s mine,” Atsumu confessed offhandedly, glancing over at the other and catching his eyes since Osamu had snapped his attention up at the comment. Atsumu knew he wouldn’t have to say anything more clearly for his brother to understand what he meant. 

“You can’t just claim others as your soulmate just cuz they’re interestin’,'' Osamu rebuked him, “how do you even know? I didn’t see him flashin’ any tattoos.” 

“What’s wrong with takin’ what’s mine?” Atsumu persisted, staring him straight in the face. 

“And I’m tellin’ ya that they’re people too and you're gonna get yourself in hot water if you treat ‘em that way.”

“You’re just mad that I won by default, since I got two and you only got one!” Atsumu countered hotly. It didn’t really matter that Osamu wasn’t taking him seriously. He would just have to snatch the next opportunity to find out if he was right, as he had nearly convinced himself that it felt true. He decided that he didn’t want to bother convincing Osamu with any of his reasons; time would tell.

Osamu glared back at him in annoyance, then rolled his eyes and went back to perusing his phone, “Whatever. At least I know once I find mine, I’ll definitely keep ‘em, which is way better than your odds, ya dumb jerk!”


	15. HS

Shouyou walked back into the gymnasium alongside Kageyama, blinking from the bright lights. Their break was almost over, having had spare time to rest and eat before the final match of the day. Shouyou felt like he was on cloud nine after the match they had just won against Nekoma. It really was an epic battle of the trash heap between crows and cats, and Kenma had even admitted that he had a good time playing. Shouyou was too wired from all the excitement in the gym, successful win that morning, and checking out their next opponents, Kamomedai, to really take it easy though. Plus, he and Kageyama had just hurried back from meeting Shouyou’s local volleyball idol, Karasuno’s previous ‘little giant’ and it went a little differently than he would have expected. 

At first, it was a bit of a shock that the Karasuno alum didn’t even play volleyball anymore and hadn’t since high school, but Shouyou quickly came to terms with the fact that people would simply strive to do the things they wanted to for themselves; not everyone was interested in same things in exactly the same way. It didn’t take long for him to realize that even though at one point in time he really wanted to be like the ‘little giant’, now he kind of just wanted to play volleyball his own way and become better.

“Hey Kageyama,” Shouyou called out to his friend, “it’s weird. I’m not really disappointed at all.”

“About time…” Kageyama replied and got into position on the court a few feet away, snagging a ball.

“Hey,” Tsukki walked over and asked curiously while peering up in the stands, “that person my brother is talking to, is he…?”

“Oh yeah! Him? He’s Karasuno’s original ‘little giant’! Isn’t that awesome?” Shouyou relayed excitedly, “I’m surprised you noticed.”

“Huh?” Tsukki said, but he seemed distracted as loud bickering started up amongst the Kamomedai players across the net. 

Shouyou frowned and followed his soulmate’s gaze, seeing their opponents’ most challenging players: Hoshiumi, the new ‘little giant’ ace who went to the youth training camp with Kageyama, and Hakuba, the super tall, six-foot-eight wing spiker.

“I know him! He’s the guy who bumped into me on day one and didn't even notice!” Shouyou complained, nodding towards the giant guy, “now I remember!”

“He probably couldn’t see you all the way down there,” Tsukki snarked, “it’s difficult to apologize to someone when you don’t even realize they exist, you know...”

“Damnit, Tsukishima! You’d better watch the back of your head when I’m up to serve!” Shouyou threatened him, baselessly, as he wouldn’t really mess up a serve on purpose during a game.

“You already have enough issues with your terrible serves… now you’re going to miss deliberately?” Tsukki deadpanned.

“Make sure all your crap, wiffleball serves are inbounds, you idiot!” Kageyama chimed in.

“How come I’m the one getting yelled at?!” Shouyou questioned angrily, but it went unanswered as Kageyama walked away to serve balls for warm-ups to the others.

Tsukki laughed then and Shouyou flicked his eyes back over to the blonde suspiciously, “what?”

“So, are you really just striving to be like the ‘little giant’?” He asked quietly with that pleasant, curious tone.

“No! I’m- yes! But not exactly! I’m just gonna play volleyball, okay?!” Shouyou huffed, flustered at Tsukki’s geniality. The latter didn’t usually ask personal questions, let alone nicely. But it sort of seemed like Tsukki was genuinely interested for a second as he nodded along, peering back to the stands towards his brother again.

“Hmmm? Well, at least you know why we’re here,” Tsukki glanced back and smirked, then walked away towards Tadashi who was spiking balls with Suga-san. Shouyou huffed and went to spike some balls with Kageyama, needing to blow off some pent-up jitters before the game started. They were up against one of the best blocking teams in the nation next; not to mention another player who was called a ‘little giant’. It was amazing to see another player who was similar to himself in the eyes of the volleyball community at large; even if it was only because they were basically the same height. He kind of wanted to be recognized like that too with a cool nickname.  _ We’ll just have to battle it out and see who gets to keep the name!  _

The game started up in no time and Kamomedai served a wispy jump floater across the net first. Sawamura-san bumped it to Kageyama, but Shouyou only caught it out of the corner of his eye. He was already sprinting full speed up the court and launching into the air on a solid first jump. The ball appeared in front of him a millisecond later and he slapped it down above the blockers, feeling the sting of that first point against his palm. He landed with a few light skips and cheered happily, hearing the players across the net groan out, “hey!”

Shouyou turned around to face them through the net, grinning, “I’m Hinata Shouyou, a first-year at Karasuno high school! I hope you’ll remember me from now on!”

“Huh? I already know you. I watched videos on you,” The enormous Hakuba-san said blandly and Shouyou just blinked back in return.  _ They’ve watched videos… of me? Whaaaaat?  _

Hoshiumi-san started bickering loudly with Hakuba-san, drawing Shouyou’s eyes to him, “at least get a hand on it!”

“Hey! I think I deserve some praise for even reacting in time, thanks!” The towering guy snapped back. 

Number six walked over to them, breaking up their squabble with a smile, “yep! We figured they’d come right over the middle first. Still, even knowing it was coming, that sure was fast!”

Kageyama served next just as powerful as usual and Shouyou watched them receive it unsteadily then send it up to Hoshiumi-san. The stout guy kicked off the ground so hard, Shouyou could have sworn he heard the sound of it, and he really flew through the air. He smashed the ball down right over the top of Shouyou, Sawamura-san, and Tanaka-san’s outstretched arms for a point. Shouyou landed quickly and stared fiercely at his counterpart opponent.  _ He got higher than me. All because of the strength in his jump like Bakayama was nagging me about? I think I heard that one, even with all the noise in this gym.. whoaaa incredible!  _

Hoshiumi-san smashed the ball across the net next and Shouyou had to remind himself to pay attention to the rally as it was easy to get caught up in watching serves like that. He jumped up an instant later for a zippy-quick, but something felt off and he spotted mid-air that the opposing blockers didn’t even spare a glance in his direction. They completely ignored his decoy move and stuffed Tanaka-san instead. Shouyou stared as the team across the net cheered for that number six and his blocking, joking around about something like ‘Hirugami the immovable’, and the blocker commented lightly, “I’m actually pretty quick, if I do say so myself.”

Then he turned towards the net and said with that carefree smile, “so yeah, buzz around over there all you want… it won’t do you any good.” 

Shouyou froze, stunned at what the other had said. If the blocker was so blatantly unbothered by Shouyou’s decoy tactics, it would put a huge damper on their offensive plays.  _ Then, I’ll just try getting lost in the crowd. _

Hoshiumi-san served another rocket across the net and Sawamura-san bumped it carefully. Shouyou paused, taking in his teammates’ movements before matching their pace and running up with them in a synchronized attack.  _ I’m the one who’s gonna hit it! Me! _

Again, the blockers didn’t budge to block him, but instead diligently waited to see where the ball would actually be delivered. Tanaka-san still managed to slap it down and score, even though the blockers put up their walls.

Tanaka-san dug the next serve, but it was rough, coming off a wonky jump floater. Shouyou took off and jumped into the air before knowing if Kageyama made it under the ball or not. He knew his friend definitely would, and spied the ball entering his field of vision a second later. Surprisingly, the blockers were already jumping after him, but they obviously hadn’t moved until they saw where the ball was heading. Shouyou quickly smacked it down above their hands for another point. 

The next couple of points racked up evenly and Shouyou rotated into the back row while Hoshiumi-san rotated into the front again. He peered across the court, taking everyone in, and caught Tsukki eyeing Hoshiumi-san critically. Shouyou shivered, suddenly remembering what his soulmate had mentioned before about jumping high, being in the air, and timing. 

A rally later, Shouyou heard it again; the sound of Hoshiumi-san’s feet leaving the ground. Tsukki was counting out loud too, then his teammates jumped and completely shut out the new ‘little giant’. The guy seemed incredibly surprised as if he hadn’t expected to be stopped so quickly. Kageyama said something quietly to him through the net that Shouyou didn’t quite catch, but the guy shouted back at him, “I only half-get what you just said, but whatever it meant, don’t give it a stupid name like that!”

He started to walk away again as the server was up, but he suddenly turned to Tsukki, who was gazing at him indifferently, and said, “huh! I guess you wouldn’t be that surprised by ‘too short’ hitters, wouldja?”

The others around Shouyou on the sidelines started laughing, but he was still stuck staring at Tsukki for a moment longer as the other had a very weird, irked look splashed across his face. It vanished with the whistle a second later and the next rally started. 

It seemed like Tsukki was going to completely shut out Hoshiumi-san once again with him counting out the timing to Kageyama and Tanaka-san while they jumped. However, the new ‘little giant’ slapped the ball past their fingers, tooling the block and scoring. Shouyou groaned to himself as he could have sworn he saw what the opposing ace was going to do even before he did it. Based on the positioning, it looked obvious that there was no way to get around or through that triple block.  _ So, just tool the block? But what if they see it coming and move outta the way? Or maybe it is just kinda like a play-by-play sort of thing…  _

Hoshimi-san was really distracting with just how good he was at volleyball. Shouyou had a hard time taking his eyes off him while the guy easily bumped Kageyama’s serve then ran up for an approach to spike; then, not even a full minute later, made a perfect emergency set. It was like he was good at everything. 

Hakuba-san nailed down the ball over Shouyou and Sawamura-san’s hands, scoring a point off that neat emergency set. Shouyou glanced at the super tall guy while he said to his teammate begrudgingly, “good set…”

“I know, right?” Hoshiumi-san responded confidently while some of their other teammates smirked knowingly.

“Dude, do you really have to be that reluctant about it?” Number four asked dryly.

“He looks down on him while simultaneously looking up at him,” number six added smugly, “geez, Hoshiumi-kun, you are so good at everything.”

“Well, yeah. I practice it all,” the ‘little giant’ replied.

“We know,”

“Y’see,” he continued looking resolved, “I learned a long time ago just how short and weak I really am.”

Shouyou stared through the net at them, thinking of how impressive it was that he had built up all those skills knowing that it was the only way to overcome his disadvantage. It was almost like Hoshiumi-san was a glimpse into a possible future for Shouyou. One that he could achieve if he also put forth the time and effort to become really good at volleyball beyond just playing with other talented people that bolstered his athletic skills. 

He felt awe-inspired and muttered, “that emergency set was sooooo cooool!”

The ace didn’t seem like he heard though and just walked to the end of the court to serve again. His next serve blasted off like a cannon and smashed the court in a no-touch service ace. Shouyou openly gawked at him as the other went to serve for the third time in a row.

Luckily, Noya-san dug the next serve and Shouyou sprinted up the court intending to spike. Kageyama sent the ball to Tanaka-san on the right instead and he beamed the ball down in a line-shot, despite the blockers getting in the way. Shouyou landed and glared at that number six blocker through the net. Again, he had been completely ignored as if the blocker was inside Kageyama’s head and knew ahead of time that he wasn’t going to snap the ball to Shouyou.  _ Argh! I am sooooo gonna make you pay attention to me! _

Shouyou served next, lobbing the ball over to the front of the court and the receive was only a little off. The ball went soaring into the air and Shouyou heard the drum of Hoshiumi-san’s feet leaving the ground then saw his small figure meeting the ball a moment later for a back row attack. He caught the other’s eyes for a flash before the ace slammed the ball down past their blockers. Shouyou lunged sideways to get under the ball, but it wasn’t enough and it went flinging off his arms out of bounds. Shouyou ground his teeth together, hissing at the slight sting of his forearms from that spike, and stared across the net. It was like Hoshiumi-san was on a roll and leading Kamomedai along ruthlessly. 

Shouyou huffed and looked away, eyes tracking the next server as they walked into position. But they snagged on Tsukki, who was already looking back at him with a quizzical sort of expression. Shouyou paused, gazing back blankly, then tilted his head in question. His soulmate didn’t say anything though and only squinted at him for a few seconds longer before he walked off to get back into position before the next serve. A moment later, the whistle sounded and Asahi-san was already cramming the ball down the opposition’s throat, evening the score. Shouyou blinked, feeling like he had somehow missed it even though he definitely saw it. He rubbed his forehead against his arm sleeve, ridding himself of the sweat, and walked to the sidelines to switch out with Noya-san. 

Shouyou watched as the opposing blockers got a deflection off of Asahi-san’s next hit. They were already standing on the left side of the court like they knew that Kageyama would choose to send it that way. But it made sense, looking at it from the sidelines since Kageyama was all the way on the right for this rotation so the only options for hitters in the front row were Tsukki over the center or Asahi-san on the left. The blockers were definitely marking Asahi-san as Kageyama sent the ball over the center to Tsukki. It looked like he would spike it in time before the blockers shifted over, but they were suddenly there and stuffed him. Shouyou let out a frustrated ‘gyaahh!’ and peered at Tsukki’s face to see his reaction, but he didn’t look disturbed in the least. 

Tanaka-san still approached the beanpole, slapped his shoulder roughly, and said, “shake it off, bruh! Shake it off!” 

Tsukki didn’t even react to Tanaka-san’s pep and just continued to gaze across the net like he was mulling something over. He abruptly turned on Kageyama, “hey, your majesty. Quit running away.”

It was like Tsukki had hit the pause button on Kageyama and he stared blankly, processing, before he growled out, “say what?!”

Shouyou gaped at them, wide-eyed as their setter continued murderously, “you talking to me?!”

“I was just checking to be sure. Geez…” Tsukki replied easily.

Tanaka-san started laughing, “bruh, Kageyama’s face!”

Shouyou grimaced, watching them and wondering what Tsukki could possibly be checking for as it seemed like a bad idea to rile up their angsty setter.  _ Check for what?! He couldn’t mean to see if Kageyama was chickening out… right? That’s just… Tsukki’s poking a dragon with that one…  _

However, it seemed really clear in the next rally that Tsukki was successful in whatever he meant to do. It was like Shouyou could feel the resentment steaming off the ball that Kageyama set for Tsukki directly over the center again. Except this time, Tsukki nailed it, scoring a point. 

The next few plays seemed to speed by with Kamomedai maintaining a two-point lead. Then Hoshiumi-san was up on top of the net again like he was just floating there with all the time in the world to decide how he wanted to smash that ball over. Shouyou watched him closely, distractedly, thinking that he was actually pretty cornered this time with both Tsukki and Kageyama barring his way. But the new ‘little giant’ finally decided to take action, smacking the ball while threading their fingertips. It went long toward the very back of the court, scoring another point for Kamomedai. They were at twenty-two now and much closer to that set-point than Karasuno who had yet to break twenty. 

“‘Spiking isn’t just about hitting the ball into the ground’” Shouyou quoted to himself, thinking of all the different types of aces he’d played against so far. 

“Man, that was one of those situations where usually things go our way,” Narita-san said to the group of them watching from the sidelines, “I mean, we’d typically get a deflection or if we were lucky, a kill block off of that.”

No one seemed to know what to say back to Narita-san, since what he said was glaringly true. It sort of deepened the idea that Kamomedai had a sharp spear in Hoshiumi-san that was hard to deflect. 

Tanaka-san was shut down a moment later when he accidentally spiked the ball into the net instead of slicing it down for a cut-shot. Shouyou grimaced at the mistake, fully seeing that the pressure was starting to build up for everyone, and rotated back onto the court. 

Kinoshita-san switched with Tsukki to serve next and managed to send a really good jump floater over the net. It bounced off the opposing libero’s outstretched hands messily, but still went flying up. Despite the set bump being completely off, Hoshiumi-san launched into the air and smacked it harshly off of Kageyama’s hands. It flew sideways, out of bounds, and brought Kamomedai to set-point. Shouyou glanced around his teammates, taking in their silence. But he decided not to be intimidated, even though things looked kind of bad at the moment, and shouted, “c’mon! Bring it oooooon!”

Abruptly, he heard Suga-san shouting ‘yeah! Bring it on!’ from the sidelines as the ball flew over in a net serve. Tanaka-san bumped it and Shouyou sprinted up the court straight at the blockers who were waiting patiently to see where the ball would go. Shouyou just wanted to grab their attention and maybe Kageyama’s as well. He reached the front of the net then sprang up diagonally to the left into the same lane as Asahi-san’s approach, trying his best to get those stubborn blockers to follow. Then Hakuba-san took the bait and jumped after him with all of his six-foot-eight loftiness. Shouyou swung his arm down, knowing full well that he was a decoy at this point as the ball sailed just a smidge past him to Asahi-san to hit. The ace jumped too, but somehow, Hakuba-san managed to land and jump to block a second time, stuffing Asahi-san. Just like that, height won out in a completely unexpected way and Kamomedai took the first set. 

Shouyou walked back over to the bench with his teammates, catching his breath and taking a drink of water. That last jump felt awesome, even though the spike was ultimately blocked by that towering giant.  _ Maybe I just need to get around it… _

Tsukki looked a little put-out and said grimly, “ugh, another game to full sets?”

Suga-san was all over him at once, gleefully smacking him on the back, “whoa whoa whoa! What’s this? Thinking about set three already? That gung-ho to get out there and win set two, huh?” Their vice-captain looked utterly delighted, his voice light and lilting, “heck! Acting like we’ve practically won it already?”

“Eh? No, I didn’t mean it like-“ Tsukki tried to deny then paused, looking apprehensively back at Suga-san, “no. Stop. please, don’t.. anything but that…”

“You sound just like Hinata!” Suga-san sang out triumphantly, completely steamrolling through Tsukki’s aggrieved pleas. 

“Ugggghhh... that is so depressing,” Tsukki responded quietly, slouching over like he was completely done with the conversation. 

“Excuse me?! Rude!” Shouyou protested. He knew they went about things differently, but calling it depressing was a bit much. But at least Tsukki seemed fine since he was still able to needle Shouyou, and he also seemed confident as he flat out stated that he assumed they’d win the second set.  _ Well, at least you’re invested in the match even though it’s been tough with Hoshiumi-san.  _

“Dude, that six-foot, too-many-inches Goliath guy is freakin’ scary!” Kinoshita-san lamented.

“Yeah, he only has to make a little hop to get his hands up that far…” Tadashi added in. 

“Whoa, hold it,” Coach Ukai haunted them, hands up placatingly, “no inventing vague reasons to scare yourselves.”

“Yeah! If we’d slid that last shot over a bit, it would have scored!” Shouyou said, thinking about how he and Asahi-san had ended up in the same approach lane after he tried the slide-jump. The gigantic guy only blocked Asahi-san because he happened to be there already after following Shouyou over.

“Don’t get started on shoulda-woulda-coulda stuff. You’ll never stop.” Tadashi reminded him bluntly.

“No, that’s not what I mean!” Shouyou protested.

“He’s saying attacking from the same slot is too risky,” Kageyama said abruptly, taking a sip of water.

“Oh!” Asahi-san exclaimed, then continued, “we’ve done the ‘back row attacker hides behind front row attacker and pops out’ kind of thing before.. and usually, it meant a score for us, but this time it didn’t work. That’s because we’re facing a guy who can jump twice and still be in time to block! From where he’s standing, he was probably thinking ‘wow thanks for staying in the same slot where I can reach!’ That’s how it went, right?” 

Kageyama nodded while Sawamura-san said, “yeah. We’re going to have to pay more attention to not just the speed of the attack, but it’s width too now..”

“Yep, exactly. That last block was a splash of cold water, yeah, but once you figure out how and why they got us, it’s not so scary.” Coach Ukai added, with nods of agreement, “Kamomedai’s blockers are good. It’d be ideal if you could split them up and peel them off our attackers, but it’s not that easy. However, they aren’t robots. They’re human just like us. Use plays that have lots of attackers coming from lots of directions. Give their blockers too much information to process.. and you’ll start stressing them out. Tiring them, and that will lead to mistakes. There are times when you feel helpless... no matter what you do, it has no effect. That gets you wondering if what you’re doing has any point at all, right? But for this game, at least, today that is not the case. You are doing something. Let’s not let set two be a repeat of set one! We’re going to switch up our rotation a bit.”

Shouyou fidgeted on the court in the middle of the back row for the start of the game. It was weird since he usually started out a set out in the front row, but this is what Coach Ukai meant when he mentioned switching up the rotation; swapping his and Tsukki’s starting spots. Shouyou glanced at Tsukki, who was standing there in the front, casually clasping his hands together while they waited for the referee to signal the start of the game, and frowned. The whistle sounded a second later and he jogged to switch places with Noya-san before Kageyama’s serve. 

Regardless of how strange the starting rotation seemed, the match progressed pretty evenly for the first couple of points and Shouyou finally rotated into the front. Now that he was next to Kageyama, it was the perfect opportunity to use the whole length of the court and just go around the blockers. As soon as Noya-san bumped the serve, Shouyou took off across the length of the court, sprinting around Kageyama and sprang into the air for a front-slide attack. He felt the ball in his palm an instant later and he slammed it down, completely outpacing the blockers.  _ Yeah! I’ll just go around! _

Hakuba-san scored off of Sawamura-san’s next sever, then it was Hoshiumi-san’s turn again. He blasted the back over, but Noya-san bumped it cleanly and Shouyou ran full speed around Kageyama again for another front-slide attempt, or at least, a decoy as Asahi-san was running too. The jump felt really good, and Shouyou was certain he would be feeling the ball in his hand any second. However, Kageyama swiftly tipped the ball over his own shoulder in a setter’s dump at the last second and scored. 

Shouyou turned to the setter, completely miffed and grumbled out through gritted teeth, “hey! what’d ya do that for? That totally felt like a ‘and I get the ball’ kind of moment!”

“Exactly,” Kageyama replied, leering back at him menacingly.

“Geh!” Shouyou gasped, unsettled by that look. Sometimes Kageyama was full-on devious, and this seemed to be one of those kinds of moments. It was probably best to steer clear. Shouyou turned abruptly to flee but ended up facing the net and the two tallest blockers on the other side; a reminder that he’d be going toe to toe with them the whole time he was in the front row.  _ I’m getting the feeling that I’ll be going around a lot… _

Just a few seconds later, Shouyou darted across the length of the court and around Kageyama before launching into the air. The blockers tried to reach him in time, their hands creeping into Shouyou’s line of sight, but he beamed the ball down. It ricocheted nastily off number six’s arms, scoring a point for Karasuno. Shouyou landed, grinning, and pumped his fists happily, “awriiiiight!” 

Shouyou blinked, taking in the court from the sidelines while he was switched with Noya-san. He just watched Hoshiumi-san make an amazing back row attack off a bad pass then tool Tsukki’s block all in one go. The new ‘little giant’ pointed at Tsukki through the net and said loudly, smiling, “man, you’re really good at blocking! Thanks for giving me such an easy and predictable target!”

Tsukki peered back at him for a beat before smiling too, “why thank you, and you’re welcome.”

Shouyou watched them and felt a shiver run up his spine. He gave his body a little shake to loosen up, then used his sleeve to wipe his forehead from sweat before he rotated back onto the court. Kamomedai had split their bunch blocking to have one guy covering Asahi-san, but he managed to score a block-out point. Then Hoshiumi-san was up to serve. It came over fast and hard and Sawamura-san managed to receive it, but it flew up in a weird direction. Shouyou still called out for the ball while Kageyama got under it and set it backwards toward Asahi-san, who smacked it into a triple block. But he was shut out and Kamomedai snatched up that point by utilizing that very successful serve and block strategy. 

It felt like Shouyou was on repeat, zig-zagging up and down the court in feints and freak-quicks; sometimes getting the ball, sometimes not. But they were keeping pace with Kamomedai despite their ridiculously good blocking. After a really tricky serve from that immovable number six that Asahi-san lost traction on, Coach Ukai called a time-out. Shouyou panted and walked over to the sidelines.

“Hinata, you’re soaked,” Kinoshita-san commented, handing Shouyou a towel and water bottle. 

Shouyou grabbed them from his senpai and replied lightly, “it’s ‘cause I’ve been running around a lot.”

Kinoshita-san nodded along, then started talking excitedly to Tadashi about their opponent’s jump floater. Shouyou took a deep breath, trying to catch his breath, and stared at the ground absently.  _ Asahi-san is having trouble with those blockers… and even with my slide attacks, they aren’t budging very much. If I keep at it, eventually they’ll bite, right? They can’t just ignore me forever, cause I’m scoring a lot! _

He suddenly felt the towel slip from his fingers as it was dragged upward in front of his face and draped over his head in a swish.

“Don’t forget to actually drink some of that,” Tsukki said blandly, then seemed to walk away as Shouyou grabbed the towel and pulled it off his head. He gazed after the blonde for a second, then starting sipping his water right before the whistle blew.

Number six happened to stop his own service by hitting the ball out of bounds, then it was Shouyou’s turn to serve again as he rotated into the back row. Despite receiving his serve easily, Tsukki got a deflection off their spike and Shouyou saved it, sending it back to Kageyama. Without hesitation, Shouyou wheeled himself around to get a good approach and launched up from the back row. The ball hit his palm a second later and he nailed it down for a point. It was simply too quick for the blockers to reach in time regardless of the fact that they jumped to block him.

The points climbed higher and higher toward twenty and it seemed like Asahi-san finally got his spirits back up after scoring a point off of an awesome feint. Suga-san was good at serving exactly where he wanted to in tricky spots which made it a lot easier for Shouyou to clearly see the path of the ball once it was on the opponents' side of the court. He jumped quickly, getting a deflection off number six, and called out, “deflection!”

Then the ball was saved by Sawamura-san, sent to Kageyama, lobbed to Asahi-san in a high arc, then smashed across the net in a wipe-out attempt. But the ball was saved again at the last second, being propelled back to their side. Shouyou sprinted up the court in a synchronized attack along with everyone else, but Kageyama whipped the ball to Asahi-san like he was on repeat. The ace hammered it down in a cross-shot, but the opposing libero bumped it. Hoshiumi-san spiked it over a second later and Kageyama got under it in time to dig the blast. Asahi-san chased the ball, calling out for Shouyou as he screamed ‘center! Center!’ and hurled himself straight up into the air from the middle of the court to hit the ball. The blockers looked bewildered at the jump for a fraction of a second before they jumped too, blocking his way. Tanaka-san miraculously saved the ball, but it went zinging off wildly and Suga-san shouted, “mine! I got it!”

Everyone started to approach, but Asahi-san’s voice rang out demandingly, “left! Leeeeeft!” 

“Asahi!” Suga-san shouted back and lobbed the ball beautifully right to the left of the court. It appeared like Asahi-san was frozen mid-air in perfect form, waiting for the ball. He slammed it forward a second later just as the opposing blockers began to fall and it plinked down between their bodies and the net. Asahi-san fell backwards onto his rear after the hit, but straightened up and pumped his fist, grinning.  _ Ah… it was one of those 'frozen in the air’ ones… Asahi-san! Hngyaaa! That was sooo coool! _

“I wanna do that too!” Shouyou muttered, breathing hard from the rally, “stupid blockers. I swear I’m gonna make ‘em pay attention to me!”

“Yep, just like love,” Suga-san mumbled cheerily, but Shouyou didn’t know what he meant. Coach Ukai steered him toward the benches a moment later, telling him to sit down. Everyone looked pretty beat at this point, especially with all the running from the synchronized attacks. Even Shouyou was sort of starting to feel it, having to put extra effort into making sure he jumped high enough into blocks and being a believable decoy; despite the blockers not following him very often yet. But he was determined to change that. 

The lights were bright, and everything in the gym seemed to be pulsing with excited energy between the noisy cheering in the stands and their relentless opponents. Hoshiumi served another few insanely good jump serve that looked nearly as powerful as Kageyama’s and Shouyou was just aching to slam another ball down.  _ The weapons you use to fight against blockers are speed and height. _

Shouyou darted around Kageyama who was getting under another serve bumped by Tanaka-san. But he barely bothered waiting to see if Tanaka-san was fully successful or not because he knew Kageyama would be if he got his hands on that ball. Shouyou sprinted as fast as he could right up to the front of the net and kicked off the ground so hard he maybe heard his feet pound the surface. Then he was flying, soaring straight up into the air much higher than usual with the extra lift he got from the kickoff, and shifted his eyes to his setter.  _ Bring it here. _

Kageyama snapped the ball right to his hand and Shouyou absolutely rammed it down over the blockers’ reaching hands, scoring a point.

He landed with a soft thump on his hands and balls of his feet then immediately turned on Kageyama, snagging his forearms tightly, “the ball! The ball was there! It was really there! How do you do that?! Are your hands magic?!”

“Ugh! Quit that!” Kageyama complained, yanking his arms free and staring back at him in confusion for a split-second. Shouyou simply stared back, wanting an answer and panting hard, but the whistle blew for the next serve. 

Hoshiumi-san managed to bump Asahi-san’s next serve and Shouyou sprang up into the air alongside Tanaka-san to block Hakuba-san. The Goliath player smacked the ball down where their double block directed, right into Sawamura-san’s arms and he lobbed it to Kageyama to set. Shouyou glanced around the court as he landed back down from the block, trying to figure out how to keep the momentum.  _ There’s not enough space for the zippy ‘dun jump’ one… instead, I’ll do the ‘whole width of the court’ one! _

He dashed around to the opposite side of the court, launched himself up above the net once more, then nailed the ball harshly. It ricocheted off a pair of arms, scoring a point. Shouyou landed like a cat again, on his hands and balls of his feet, breathing hard.  _ Harder to visualize that one in a rally than the ‘dun jump’ one. They almost dug it. How best to use it? How? _

It was as if Kamomedai dug their heels into the court in retaliation against Karasuno’s building momentum; they scored two points back to back, despite some solid blocking on Karasuno’s end. But Shouyou wasn’t about to back down in the least. Sawamura-san got his hands on the next tricky jump floater and sent it to Kageyama fluidly. Shouyou watched it lob through the air neatly, trying to decide how to approach this next point.  _ Ooh! That’ll be a good set! I could do the zippy one… but instead, I’ll get lost in the crowd.  _

He matched his teammates’ pace carefully and made certain to jump with just the right amount of extra strength to really give him that awesome feeling height. The ball was there in an instant, reliably, and he smashed it forward, hammering it through the blockers’ splayed fingers. It flew off of them nastily and landed out of bounds, scoring Karasuno a point. Regardless of the fact that the towering blocker reached his height, the jump plus the clarity of the hit felt amazing. He was starting to get addicted to that feeling, even with the surprise blocker.  _ He was like, ‘hi!’ out of nowhere!  _

“Watch out, I’m gonna get you next time,” Hakuba-san said abruptly through the net. Shouyou turned to him in surprise and gazed at him, too pumped up to have a decent response.  _ Hmm, maybe I should have gone with a slide instead, but… _

“Hinata,” someone called out, “Hinata, helloooo?”

Shouyou blinked and snapped his attention to the caller, Sawamura-san, who continued, “time to swap out.”  _ Back row already?! _

“Darn stupid rotation system,” Shouyou muttered grumpily, knowing that he wouldn’t get a chance to test his strategies in the back row. He switched with Tadashi, who mumbled something in return but Shouyou completely missed it.

Shouyou watched from the sidelines as Tadashi served a really good jump floater. It seemed perfect, but that giant Hakuba-san bumped it easily by putting his hands up in the air, although it wasn’t perfect. Hoshiumi-san leaped into the air and Shouyou’s eyes shot to Tsukki who called out suddenly, “we stuff him!”

Tsukki and Kageyama jumped up too, with perfect timing and straight, foreboding arms. Yet there seemed to be a slight gap between Tsukki and Kageyama’s, and Shouyou wondered fleetingly if they were getting tired enough to make that kind of silly blocking mistake. But at the last millisecond, as Hoshiumi-san slammed the ball forward, Tsukki shifted his arm over and the ball went flying right through, untouched. It sailed the length of the court and landed with a ‘tump’ right outside the endline. Tsukki had completely dodged the new ‘little giant’s’ tooling specialty. Shouyou shivered at the sight as the referee called the ‘no touch’ spike, giving the point to Karasuno. Tsukki turned around and started walking towards the benches wearing a super smug grin. They had won the second set.

Shouyou swarmed Tsukki along with Tanaka-san, Kageyama, and Noya-san as the blonde plopped down on a bench. 

“Bruh! We’re you waiting to do that all game?! Dude, talk about terrifying!” Tanaka-san bombarded him first.

“Why, you…you… raaagh!” Shouyou added, huffing, irritated that Tsukki would keep such a valuable skill secret.

“How did you know to do it?” Kageyama asked abruptly, staring him down too.

“Holy crap, you did that one on purpose?!” Noya-san yelped.

“Everyone, how about you all sit down and rest like you’re supposed to…” Tsukki replied blandly, seeming like he wasn’t about to answer any questions. Shouyou scoffed and plunked down on the bench too, Kageyama and Tanaka-san following his lead. The air in the gym seemed charged again, or loud, and Shouyou took a breath, trying to distract himself from the ruckus of it all.

“Hey, Kageyama, have you noticed it yet?” He asked his setter. Kageyama turned his head and peered back at him in silent question. Shouyou continued, not derailed by his silence, “right now, we’re getting ready to play our sixth set today!” 

Then he paused to see if Kageyama was following, but explained anyway, “no, you don’t have to say it. I know. I’m not going to argue that winning in straight sets isn’t better.. and I do play my best every time, trying to help us win in straight sets. I really do. But you know.. if we played two games and won both in straight sets, we’d only get to play four sets. Heck, even in a best-of-five-game, we’d only get to play at most a total of five sets.”

Kageyama just stared at him blankly for a beat, then looked away and took a long sip of water.

Tanaka-san piped up while grinning, “you just got totally ignored.”

“Somebody didn’t even bother thinking about it..” Tadashi commented while passing by the bench. 

“Of course not.. formulating a comeback, especially for that sort of utter lunacy, requires far more calories than it’s worth...” Tsukki commented, rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses.

The third set started off with the same starting rotation, and Shouyou watched his teammates from the sidelines rack up a few points evenly with Kamomedai. A few minutes into the set and Shouyou finally got to rotate to the front. He stomped onto the court to get into position grumbling, “this time I’m definitely gonna make their blockers pay attention to me!”  _ Lost in the crowd, lost in the crowd.  _

He had to remind himself that in order to get blockers to follow him, he needed to surprise them with a loud attack out of nowhere; he had to be less flashy in the meantime for greater impact later. But it was hard to stick to the rationale, especially after witnessing Hoshiumi-san make amazing emergency quick-sets and spike balls past their tallest double block by changing direction midair. It was like the guy was working harmoniously with his team and purposely not getting lost in the crowd; like he wanted to be as loud as possible continuously, simply because he could. He was good enough that he could while gaining his team a two-point lead. 

Shouyou got so caught up in watching Hoshiumi-san that he nearly missed it as Tsukki made a really weird hit out of bounds. It seemed like he had actually been scared of the opposing blockers for a moment and tried to avoid them by slicing the ball way too far left. Coach Ukai called a time out and they all got a chance to rest for a minute. Shouyou wiped his face with a towel and was almost tempted to ask the blonde if he had lost all his steam, but the whistle blew again before he could. 

The game pounded onward in the bristling gym with Kamomedai pulling ahead by three points with Hoshiumi-san up to serve again. Shouyou had spent a large amount of that time ping-ponging back and forth across the court whenever he could and didn’t stop even though the save on this next ball was long. He launched into the air with a slide-attack practically on top of Kageyama, but the blockers had followed him there. They shut him out, but luckily, Tanaka-san dove to save the ball in time, sending it flying back over the net. Then Hakuba-san slammed it down right into Sawamura-san’s forearms like a cannon, but the ball lobbed easily to Kageyama from his captain’s skillful dig. Shouyou surveyed the court in a flash while sprinting to an open space on the right, noting which approach would most likely score.  _ Lost in the crowd… only two hitters in the front row. Which means, this side is aaaalll mine!  _

Now that he had plenty of space with a great momentum-emboldened approach, he kicked off the ground hard and soared into the air, way above the net. The ball was in reach, just like he knew it would be, and he struck it down forcibly into number six’s hand that the guy had managed to throw in the line of fire at the last second. The blocker’s attempt was in vain and the ball pelted into the floor brutally. Shouyou grinned triumphantly and gave Kageyama a high-five, which he somewhat regretted a moment later with the extra sting of his hand.  _ I’m gonna win with height! _

The very next rally seemed like a blur as if some sort of autopilot had taken over. Shouyou was moving habitually in tandem while Noya-san received a ball, then he was kicking off the ground as hard as ever and rocketing through the air to that ultimate peak above the net. He saw it clearly like it was frozen in time and even with hands popping in view too, he smashed the ball down into the clearing below, uninterrupted. The opponents dove for the ball, but it had already hit the ground and Shouyou landed a second later, completely, wildly exhilarated. 

“Dude, what the heck! No, seriously! What the heck?! That guy is amazing!” Hakuba-san shouted in frustration.

Shouyou glanced over, kind of hearing the giant guy’s teammates make lighthearted commentary about what he had said, but Shouyou didn’t really catch it. He took a few breaths and pointed casually towards Kageyama, “Nah. It’s actually him who’s the amazing one… I can fly, yeah. But, I can’t do anything on my own. By yourself, no matter how hard you try, it just won’t work. I can’t win.” 

He knew he was rambling and not really taking care to explain exactly what he meant; it was no surprise that Hakuba-san seemed totally perplexed, almost offended somehow. 

Shouyou blinked, realizing the next rally had started already at the whistle that he barely heard. He stared at the court, taking it all in, and jumped as soon as he saw the ball going to number four. It bashed off his hand and fell back toward Kamemodai, but Hoshiumi-san got under it out of nowhere and sent a quick-set to number six. Shouyou sprang up again alongside Kageyama and closed off the line-shot. The immovable guy swiped it down in a cross, but Noya-san bumped it, calling out ‘nice block!’ As soon as Shouyou touched back down on the ground, he dashed to the back of the court, whipped himself around, and ran back to the front. With the net rapidly approaching, he kicked off the ground and heard it this time as he flew upwards like he was a missile and the ceiling was his target. Even while swinging his arm down on thin air, he saw that number six had shifted slightly towards him and was now a second behind in following the ball. Kageyama had zipped it all the way to the left to Tanaka-san instead, but that was fine because he nailed it down for a point. Shouyou landed and pumped his fists while Tanaka-san did the same, yelling, “yeaaaaaaaaaah!”

He straightened up and thought about what he had just accomplished. He finally stole the immovable, read-blocker’s attention regardless of whether he would actually get the ball or not.  _ Thinking about ‘little giants’... I thought it would be so cool if I could be like them. But you know? Even as I keep learning how to do more new and different things… I don’t think I need to be like them. Not anymore. Not at all.  _

“I think…” Shouyou said, staring absently across the net, “if someone were to give me a nickname... I want to be called, ‘The Greatest Decoy’.”

He continued after a beat while the whistle blew for a time out, “though to be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever think of myself as a decoy. Not ever in my whole life.”

“You’re still going on about that?” Kageyama asked impassively and started walking towards his water bottle by the benches, “I’ve been telling you from the start, idiot. The ‘greatest decoy’ is the coolest nickname. Behind setter, that is.”

“Bro, setter isn’t a nickname..” Tanaka-san put in incredulously, but Kageyama just shrugged. 

Shouyou thought about it for a second, realizing that his best friend had been saying something like that since that very first three-on-three match together.  _ Hah! He saw straight through me, huh? _

Feeling resolved, he turned to Hoshiumi-san, who was peering back at them with mild interest at their conversation, and told him graciously, “Oh! Anyway, Hoshiumi-san, if you want the ‘little giant’ nickname, you can have it.”

“Dude! Quit acting like it’s yours to hand out! Besides, it’s been mine from the start!” Hoshiumi-san yelled angrily across the net. Then he stopped and burst out laughing while Shouyou stood there staring, stunned by his reaction. The ‘little giant’ just kept laughing and walked away to join his own teammates. Shouyou shook himself out of it and joined his own teammates too, taking a long drink of water. 

Despite the break, Shouyou felt really warmed up like he could run at his fastest pace or jump to his greatest heights. He wiped his face on his shoulder sleeve briefly, feeling that his shirt was already really damp from his exertion, and sprinted forward to block Hoshiumi-san’s incoming spike. The ‘little giant’ bonked the ball over in a feint instead, scoring a point for Kamomedai. 

The next serve, Shouyou really felt the opponents’ eyes on him as he ran up the court before Kageyama even had the ball and leaped into the air diagonally as if he would simply avoid the blockers by flying in a different direction. The blockers didn’t seem to like this ploy and sprang after him diligently, but Kageyama sent the ball all the way to Tanaka-san on the left who had a completely clear and free shot. He blasted the ball down and it banged off Hoshiumi-san’s forearms for a point. Shouyou landed and laughed excitedly, panting and watching Tanaka-san cheer ‘wooooo!’ along with Noya-san. Even Kageyama looked really pleased with a smug, menacing grin lighting up his face. 

Shouyou rotated to the back, passing by Tsukki, and heard Kageyama say to the blonde with that menacing smile still gracing his face, “no running away.”

Tsukki looked wholly irked at the comment, but just sneered back and got into position. Shouyou glanced over at him from the edge of the court and caught his eyes. The latter gazed back at him, but Shouyou had a hard time trying to figure out what his contemplative, dissatisfied, almost concerned expression meant. His soulmate turned to face the net a second later, further ignoring him. Shouyou glanced around the gym while he waited for the whistle, feeling the sweat sliding down his face and into the collar of his jersey. It was almost hard to focus with the bright lights seeming a little brighter than before and the people in the stands still making a commotion from their previous play.  _ Oh man… this is so much fun! But I just rotated into the back row again. Maaaan, I wish I could stay in the front row for like, ten points in a row! And next time I come up to serve, I’ll probably get subbed out for Tadashi too… wait a minute… I can stay out here as long as I want! We just have to keep scoring breakpoints, that’s all! Okay, time for breakpoint number one! _

The whistle blew, jerking Shouyou out of his planning and he bonked the ball over to the front of the opponents’ court. They scrambled to send the ball back over, then Kageyama tapped the ball down in a setter’s dump. But the blockers somehow managed to smack it down to Karasuno’s side. Sawamura-san kicked the ball back into the air by sheer happenstance as he was running up in his approach to spike and sent it flying back over the net. Shouyou laughed deliriously at the save as he saw Tsukki and Kageyama jump to block their number five. Tsukki shouted ‘deflection’ and Shouyou hopped into the air, single-handedly going after that stray ball. He caught it, but the force knocked him over and he landed with an ‘oof!’

Springing up as quickly as he could, Shouyou started running towards the front of the court and saw Tsukki hurl himself into the air really high right over the middle of the court. He smashed the ball down through the triple block, but Hoshimi-san dug the ball, sending it towards Hakuba-san. The Goliath of a player slammed the ball down over their own triple block, but Shouyou had seen it coming and lunged forward into its path. He dug the ball and it went flying in a nice arc towards Kageyama. 

It didn’t matter that the force of the receive had knocked him down to his hands and knees as he propelled himself away from the ground in a flash and sprinted up the court. He caught Kageyama’s eyes, silently demanding the ball, and kicked off the ground thunderously for a back row freak-quick attack. The others had made an approach and were jumping into the air as well like they didn’t want to miss out. But Shouyou only had eyes for the ball, knowing in his gut that his setter would most definitely deliver it his way. He glimpsed a clear view of the ball leaving Kageyama’s hands perfectly and making the short, zippy trip to his own before he nailed the ball down to the opposite court. It hit the floor right before the endline before anyone could even budge to stop it, scoring a point and ending that rally.  _ Yes! Now I get another turn out on the court! _

Shouyou landed back down on his hands and knees from the effort of that jump and panted heavily, taking in the atmosphere. The gym was going nuts after such an exciting back and forth and his teammates were jogging over to him cheering too. 

“Hey, hey! What a play, bruh!” Tanaka-san reached out a hand to help Shouyou up.

“Thanks!” He said cheerily through a huge smile and reached to take his senpai’s hand, but the latter must have moved because he missed. The court spun a little and Shouyou faltered, falling forward without meaning to, “bwuh?”

He caught himself with a forearm on the scratchy gym floor, then tried to lift back up but his body just wasn’t willing to cooperate easily. He forced the issue and leaned back on his legs unsteadily, but they gave out again. He frowned and looked down at his own body, confused, “huh? Weird.”

“I think.. he probably has a fever.” Kageyama said aloud, standing in front of Shouyou and gazing at him critically, “I was thinking you’ve put in a lot of work today, but it’s you, so I didn’t really worry about it... but earlier, something was off. Your hands felt way too hot.” 

Everyone followed the setter’s gaze and turned their attention back to Shouyou. Takeda-sensei was suddenly there, even though Shouyou hadn’t seen him come over, and quickly placed a hand against his forehead.

“Huh?! What are you talking about? I’m totally normal!” Shouyou argued, but Takeda-sensei looked really concerned.

“No, you haven’t been yourself since last night. After day one, you could barely get out of the tub.. but it’s been like you’ve been constantly wired since yesterday morning. Even after the Nekoma game, you didn’t dive in on your lunch and pass out like you usually do. You’ve been buzzing around like you’re on an adrenaline high for almost two days now. It’s no surprise that you’d run yourself into the ground eventually.” Kageyama calmly stated and Shouyou realized Shimizu-san was suddenly there too, taking his temperature with a thermometer. It beeped irritatingly loud a moment later and Shouyou sprang up from the bench where he was sitting; not that he noticed moving there in the first place.

“B-but Coach! It’s not like I’m hurt or anything, I can still move! See! I can still fly!” Shouyou exclaimed, waving his arms a little to prove he was fine, but he wobbled and grabbed onto Coach Ukai for support, “I’m not hurt, Coach! It’s not an injury!”

Takeda-sensei stepped in, putting a hand on his shoulder to keep him steady, and guided him to sit down then said, “this is the same as what happened to Sawamura-kun in the prelims. Hinata-kun, go to the medical station and have them confirm that you’re alright. It’s necessary.”

Shouyou stared, frowning, then felt the anger bubbling up to the surface at being in this situation. He didn’t budge for a beat, feeling himself fume, and Takeda-sensei straightened. His advisor peered at him stone-faced for a moment, then said evenly, quietly, “I know you don’t want to hear this but I’m going to say it to you anyway. Right now, I cannot in good conscience allow you back out onto that court.”

Shouyou couldn’t find anything to say in return. The world felt like it was burning all around him and he stared straight ahead, keeping tears at bay from the shock of it all. Takeda-san softened and kneeled down in front of him, grabbing his steaming hands, “Hinata-kun. Given how much you couldn’t play during middle school, more than anyone, you love and appreciate the simple joy of playing in a game… and when you can’t, I know it must frustrate you more than anything. That’s why I want you to engrave this feeling on your heart. Remember this feeling and tell yourself that you will never, ever allow this to happen again. Make sure it never does. Yes, in the future there will be accidents you can’t prevent. The unforeseen will happen… and when it does, engrave that feeling on your heart. Carefully. Deeply. You once said that someday you will win a gold medal. Multiple gold medals. Do you remember? Well, now you know that there are walls that you can’t get over with grit and gumption alone. When you hit those walls, that you need most are knowledge, a level head, and most of all, thoughtfulness. Hinata-kun, right now this very moment.. This is still volleyball. Concentrate on what you need to do to win.”

Takeda-sensei paused for a moment, peering into Shouyou’s eyes like he was trying to read his thoughts, then continued, “no, your body is not finished growing yet. I’m sure you will be taller with time. But volleyball is a sport that takes place across a very high, very imposing net. Nevermind players who are five-five, on that court six-three is still considered short. You are and you will always be small. You won’t be given the same chances other players are. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a truth you must accept. But that doesn't mean you have to give up. Make certain you grab each and every chance you get. Don’t let a single one slip away. Hinata-kun, you of all people must always be prepared at a moment's notice. Be the one that’s always at the very front of the line when opportunity comes knocking.”

Shouyou listened, calming down with Takeda-sensei’s soothing, blunt words washing over him in waves, and he felt wetness dripping down his cheeks. His tears had finally spilled and were freely flowing, mingling with the salty sweat that was already there. There was no way he would be able to return to the court to finish the game even if Takeda-sensei changed his mind and gave him permission. He gasped a breath, then said, “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry…”

Tadashi put an arm around his back, helping him to his feet and Tanaka-san said with a brave, bright smile in rebellion to his moist eyes, “bruh, messin’ around so much you gave yourself a fever? Haha! What are you, a toddler?”

“How is that any surprise, Tanaka-san? Hinata has always had the brain of a toddler. Give him one good night’s sleep and I’m sure the mini stamina freak will be as irritating as ever,” Tsukki added dryly, but he seemed genuinely concerned with that questioning doubt painted across his face. Shouyou didn’t have the wherewithal to linger on it at the moment.

“Don’t worry, Shouyou! Leave it to me an’ Kazuhito!” Noya-san said determinedly.

Then Narita-san said lightly, “no guarantees everything’s going to go just fine, but I can say I’m way less nervous than I was back in the prelims, at least.”

“Um! G-get bet.. uhh.. l-leave it t-to.. um..” Kinoshita-san fumbled, looking petrified.

“We’ll miss you out there. There’s no way we wouldn’t,” Sawamura-san spoke up, steamrolling the other’s nervousness, “Hinata, this team needs you. Go eat and get some sleep!”

“Looks like somebody gets to have tonight’s ginger pork early!” Suga-san added, smiling. 

“Dude, greasy! Start with rice porridge first!” Tanaka-san interjected.

“Make sure you bundle up and stay nice and warm, okay?” Asahi-san said kindly.

“Sure thing, grandma!” Noya-san poked at the ace. Shouyou just gazed back at them in a slight daze, really feeling the heat radiating off his own body and dampness slowly dribbling down his cheeks to his chin. 

“So, you’re gonna stand on the court longer than anyone else, huh?” Kageyama asked bluntly, staring him down while he was maneuvering to leave, “ha! I win again.” 

Shouyou looked back at him blankly, then wiped his damp face to rid it of all his recent, devastating trials and frowned at his friend. Of course, at this moment, Kageyama had won again as he got to stay on the court longer. But that wouldn’t stop Shouyou. This was just a hard-learned lesson about the reality of pursuing what he wanted, and one day, he would win. 

He started walking away with Tadashi, but heard Hoshiumi-san suddenly yell across the court, “hey, Hinata Shouyou! Don’t take forever! I’ll be waiting for you!” 

Shouyou turned around to face the ‘little giant’ and paused, then bent over at the waist to bow in silent acknowledgment. He straightened up and headed out of the double gym doors with Yachi-san. They headed to the warm-up gym where they kept their bags during the match and Yachi-san quickly excused herself, telling Shouyou to change out of his wet jersey. Shouyou followed her advice and felt a little better now that he was dry, then heard footsteps approaching. He glanced up to see Kenma walking over to him and called out, “Kenma.”

“Hey. Came to cheer up a friend,” Kenma answered, and Shouyou felt his eyes welling up again.

“Kenma… can you find me a way to watch the game?”

“Here. Brought this for you to borrow,” Kenma replied, smiling quietly and handing over his tablet with the game already queued up and playing live.

“Thanks, Kenma.”

Yachi-san came back a second later with Shimada-san and they directed him to the exit so they could take him to get checked out by a doctor. They eventually made it there by taxi all while keeping tabs on the game by using Kenma’s tablet and saw that the team was keeping it together, keeping pace with Kamomedai past twenty points. Shouyou watched his teammates on the screen and they seemed to be playing as if their lives depended on it. From this side of things, he could easily tell how Kamomedai was fighting back and made commentary to Yachi-san, “oh! I see what they did. This way they keep three legal attackers in the front row, and they made their blocks taller too. Not only that, their Goliath number ten isn’t all that great at floor defense, so the new guy probably boosts them there too. Then in three ticks of the rotation, they’ll probably swap things back again.”

“It’s using player substitutions not to fix holes, but to keep a more advantageous rotation for longer, right?” Yachi-san replied, gazing at him in question.

Shouyou nodded and muttered to the screen, “get ‘em.”

His teammates chased Kamomedai all the way up to match-point, but that ‘little giant’ stormed the court, flashing through the air thunderously, and struck the ball down, winning them the game. It was close, so close, but just not quite enough. Shouyou wondered if his presence would have changed the outcome, and he slumped over in his chair of the hospital lobby, watching his teammates line up and thank the opponents for the game.  _ You can’t get to the top on wins alone… but I’ll get there eventually, taking all the losses and wins with me to get stronger until I’m at the peak. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kind of got away from me!... and now I'm behind. I'll post the next chapter either Friday or the following Monday. Thanks!


	16. TK

Kei casually leaned against the wall of the lobby in the Tokyo gymnasium with some of his teammates. He grimaced, rubbing his temple gingerly, then gazed across the busy space at the entrance of the bathroom. It sort of felt like a headache was building up, which wouldn’t be ideal since they were going to be playing volleyball soon. They were back at spring nationals for the second time and it was day three, round three. If they won this next match, their school would place the same as last year for the tournament; top eight in the nation. However, it was a tall order as they were up against Inarizaki next. While they had won last year against them, Kei imagined that without the same floor defense for serves, it’d most likely be more difficult this time around. He’d done some light research and read on some random volleyball forum that the Miya twins had grown even more menacing as third-years. Kageyama had also mentioned that Miya Atsumu was particularly unrelenting at the All Japan Youth Camp just a few weeks ago.

Kei scoffed to himself, revising his own thoughts that the king had actually complained more than anything that Miya-san hadn’t left him alone the whole camp. It was somewhat amusing to imagine that scenario though. Regardless, his majesty came back from the camp with seemingly renewed spite to push past his own limits and really focus on his serves. These clues led Kei to speculate that Miya-san had also been working on his serves.  _ Ugh, stupidly competitive people. _

The human embodiment of sunshine exited the bathroom across the way a second later along with Karasuno’s first-years, Tokita, Shoji, and Yaotome. They were all talking boisterously about who knows what, carrying on in their excitement about the upcoming match.

“How do ya think the newbies will handle the Miya twins?” Tanaka-san asked abruptly. Kei glanced over to him briefly to check who he was asking, but it seemed like a general inquiry.

Ennoshita-san hummed then said, “hmm, we’ll see, I guess. But from what Kageyama-kun was saying about Miya Atsumu’s serve improvement from camp, along with the fact that there’s no doubt they’ll have fixed any snags in their version of the freak-quick attack by now… I think we’ll just have to test it out with the rotations and find the best fit. Either way, I’m sure first-years will be surprised.”

Kei glanced between them, agreeing inwardly with his captain, then checked back in with the shrimp and underclassmen. Almost immediately he spotted a group of black jackets heading towards them as if Hinata was a homing beacon for trouble. Kei sighed, pushed off the wall with his shoulder, and said as he started walking towards the others, “speak of the devils.”

Tanaka-san and Kageyama followed him over to the group and the combination of their schools’ black jackets made quite the dark, intimidating mass of players; but Kei found his target easily enough. He came to stand slightly behind the shrimp and his underclassmen, folding his arms across his chest listlessly while one of the twins said, “Shouyou-kun! Long time no see.”

It was the setter, and now captain of Inarizaki, Miya Atsumu, with the golden-blonde dyed hair and dark undercut. He looked exceptionally at ease, gazing at Hinata with a sort of lazy, sly smile, while the shrimp just blinked back at him then squeaked out, “Miya-san! Hiya! We’re totally gonna kick-“

“Let’s have a good game, Atsumu-san. We’re going to win,” Kageyama spoke out suddenly, steamrolling the shrimp on purpose to say it first.

“That’s basically what I was going to say, Bakayama! Geez..” Hinata squawked in irritation, and Kei felt the corners of his mouth lift.

Miya-san also seemed absolutely delighted by the challenge, grinning smugly, “well now, can’t wait to see ya try!”

“Um… e-excuse me?” Yachi had wiggled her way through the sea of black, “the gym just cleared, they’re ready for us.”

Miya-san smirked at them, shifting his eyes along them slowly, then gestured to his team with a hand to move out. Kei followed them with his eyes as they left and disappeared through the gym doors. 

“Wow… why is that guy so scary?!” Yachi said quietly, wringing her hands.

“Wait, w-which twin was that anyway?!” Tokita piped up, confused. 

“The setter,” Hinata replied immediately then turned on Kageyama, “he still considered the top one in Japan for high school? Didja overthrow him yet? ‘Cause he can really zing a ball pretty much anywhere… maaaan I really wanna hit that.”

“The setter?!” Tokita questioned and paled slightly. Kei rolled his eyes and started walking towards the gym, jostling Hinata’s shoulder with his hand along the way to get the shrimp to return to reality. 

It seemed to work like a domino effect as the rest of them collectively started moving once Hinata started following Kei towards the gym entrance too.

Kageyama said a little distractedly like he was lost in thought, “Yachi-san, he’s scary because he’s just that good. But that doesn’t mean he’ll be the best forever…”

“Oh my, planning on overthrowing his serfdom, your majesty? Please don’t tell me you’re staging this battle during  _ this _ match?” Kei put in, looking over his shoulder at the king while they walked.

“Bruh, every match is a battle! And we’re definitely gonna win! Yeeeaahh!” Tanaka-san added loudly, clearly thrilled by the prospect. 

“Wooooo!” Hinata cheered along, buzzing with excitement at this point.

Kei sighed to himself, thinking that if Kageyama really was planning on having another battle between setters during this game, it would mean a lot of extra work for everyone. He always, without fail, got this way around other talented setters.

“What did I miss? What’s all the excitement for?” Tadashi asked as the group found the rest of the team waiting for them by the gym doors.

“Just the king being obsessed with setters again and starting shit. Same thing, different day,” Kei intoned. He wasn’t sure if anyone else heard his jab other than Tadashi, but he didn’t care either way. 

“Wheeeew… so, gonna be a hard-fought game then, ya think? Extra setter finesse all around?” Tadashi asked, smiling at his own cleverness.

“Undoubtedly,”

“Okay! Listen up!” Coach Ukai called out and they all gathered around, “we’re going to try starting with Tsukishima in the front and Hinata in the back to try to get ahead of the Miya twins’ freak-quick copy, alright? Remember, just stay as aggressive as always, especially when serving.”

“Yes, Coach!” They called out and took position on the court.

The game started off with Miya-san blasting the ball over as fiercely as before and Kei could have been imagining it, or maybe it was because he hadn’t seen it up close for a whole year, but it seemed even more powerful. Kageyama received it, probably through sheer indignant willpower, and Kei started jogging, distinctly hearing Hinata kick off the ground. Kei jumped, knowing the ball wouldn’t be coming his way, but he made sure to make his approach as convincing as possible. The next second he peeked over in time to see the shrimp smack the ball so hard from so high in a back row minus-tempo attack that it seemed like he was flying. It pegged the very back of the opposing court untouched, and Inarizaki stood there staring at the place the ball had hit. Except for Miya-san, who was gazing through the net at the perpetrator with a slinky smile on his face.  _ What? Disturbing…  _

Hinata landed and cheered for his point, high-fiving Kageyama and Tanaka-san excitedly. Kei wasn’t necessarily surprised by the tactic as they usually punched with a freak-quick first thing, but he knew it was also a deliberate threat made by their setter to another. 

“Whooaaa-ho Shouyou-kun, ya got real high in the sky there… don’t worry though and fly all ya want. This way we’ll know exactly where ya are,” Miya-san commented with that easy smile still lingering insipidly.

“Bwah?!” Hinata squawked, but the whistle blew for the next serve. 

Apparently, this was Inarizaki’s strategy for handling Hinata. The points added up higher and higher past twenty, but the opponents took the shrimp in stride; commit-blocking him with two guys whenever he was in the front row, and positioning good receivers in the back when he was in the back. Kei mused that it was a good approach for combating Hinata’s particular brand of firepower since he hadn’t quite mastered tooling a block consistently yet. Inarizaki must have noticed this as well as they kept up a decent pace in points with Karasuno. It was still way too fast-paced with the combination of the twins’ freak-quick and the duo’s freak-quick zinging back and forth across the net. Kei huffed, catching his breath after all the running around, and rotated to the back after Hinata got shut out. He blew out another breath of relief as Kinoshita-san was being subbed in to serve instead of him, and he made his way to the sidelines. He caught Hinata looking giddy, excitable as he moved into the front row again.

“Well, at least he’s not depressed that most of his back row attacks are getting bumped on top of being shut down in the front pretty consistently. Not that he’s capable of depression,” Kei said lowly towards Tadashi who was watching Kinoshita-san with interest. 

“Eh? Maybe he just doesn’t have the attention span for that… is that a thing? Are you worried?” Tadashi replied distractedly, unconsciously mimicking the weird face Kinoshita-san made after hitting the ball over in a jump floater, “don’t worry, Tsukki, he’ll be fine.” 

“... and why would I worry?” Kei asked, focusing keenly on his best friend. It was another one of those innocuous, empathetic comments that slipped out that made Kei wonder if Tadashi knew something more than he was saying. He’d been making comments like these for a while now; little snippets of opinions about Kei and Hinata’s relationship. Tadashi suddenly glanced over at the question, catching Kei’s eyes.

“Oh! Um…” 

“Hmmm? I see… you know, don’t you?” Kei flat-out asked since it seemed pointless to beat around the bush. Thinking back on all those subtly prying words, it was clear that Tadashi had figured out that the shrimp was his soulmate.

Tadashi stared back in a mix of uneasy bemusement, “... yes. I… figured it out.”

“Have you said anything to him? You probably figured this out too, but I haven’t told him. I would like to keep it that way,” Kei spoke calmly, “the shrimp is clueless.”

“N-No… I haven’t said anything to him about it,” Tadashi answered, “but Tsukki! Why?! Why haven’t you said anything?! Don’t you want to figure it all out?! Doesn’t keeping it bottled up make it harder than it has to be?!”

“Hm,” Kei hummed, then glanced back at the court to stall before he probably needed to answer. Now that the door was open for this conversation, Kei just wanted to slam it shut again.  _ No, I don’t necessarily want to figure it out… what is there to figure out anyway? What’s so hard about keeping it to myself?  _

Almost immediately after refocusing on the court, he glimpsed Hinata flinging himself diagonally to block Miya Osamu as the twin smacked a freak-quick down in a snap. Hinata left no opening and stuffed him outright, then the whistle blew, signaling the end of the set. Kei squinted at the scoreboard, realizing that he had been so distracted by Tadashi that they’d been at set-point. The first set was over, they had snatched it up.

His teammates were cheering and mobbing the sidelines to celebrate. Coach Ukai clapped along, then got their attention, “alright! Good! Nicely done! So, looks like we picked a good rotation even though they’re throwing most of their defense at Hinata and Tanaka. We’ll stick with it then and hopefully they won’t switch theirs up, since they were pretty successful despite us squeaking out that win!”

“Tsukishima… I’m gonna raise your contact point when you’re up against their number eight over the center,” Kageyama said abruptly, turning towards him. 

He put his hands on his hips and hung his head back in exasperation, “yes, your highness. Thanks for the heads up.”

“Aw! Do we have Tired-shima already?!” Hinata called out, smiling widely.

“And you? Are you keeping a lid on your excitement? Not going to crash and burn, are we?” Kei shot back while smiling sardonically. He gazed at the shrimp, seeing his face fall slightly.

“I totally-“

“Alright, alright! The opponents are over there,” Ennoshita-san stepped in, gesturing with his thumb towards Inarizaki, “Hinata-kun, you’re doing a great job! Make sure you drink water and sit for a minute, okay? You’re good, right?”

“Yes, captain! I’m great!” Hinata chirped back, then stuck his tongue out at Kei childishly. Kei simply shrugged in return and turned away, sipping his own water. 

“Tsukishima-san! You can spike even higher than you have been?!” Shoji asked, wide-eyed. 

Kei gazed back at his kouhai for a moment, “yes, if it’s necessary… not that the king will give you much of a choice. You’ll find out during next years’ Interhigh, I’m sure.”

The first-year wing-spiker nodded slowly, then went to talk amongst the others and Kei accidentally caught Tadashi’s eyes. It looked like he was about to come over to chat too, a determined expression plastered on his face, but the whistle blew for the players to take position on the court for the second set; Kei narrowly escaped.

It began similarly to the first, with Hinata pulling off an amazingly lightning-fast spike. Kei mused to himself as he watched that they’d eventually start predicting and patterning all of the shrimp's tricky maneuvers. He wouldn’t be surprised if it took them another whole set though. Regardless of how long it would take to really get a handle on the guy, he could tell they were adapting quickly. 

Kei jumped in the next moment alongside Narita-san and Ennoshita-san to throw up a triple block against Suna-san, but the opposing middle blocker slammed the ball past them, scoring a point.  _ Ugh, I just want to stuff this guy at least once! He’s just too… bendy! Augh, no! That’s definitely something the shrimp would say… flexible. He’s too flexible. _

With a new goal eating away at the back of his mind, Kei tenaciously spent a large majority of the match precisely blocking Suna-san in order to shift his hitting range over just a little; like slowly adjusting the severity of a bad habit. A few evenly racked up points later, and Kei managed to get a solid deflection off Suna-san, “deflection!”

“Got it!” Hinata shouted, bumping the ball back to Kageyama. Then they all started running up in a synchronized attack, jumped with abandon, and the king whipped the ball to Kei, surprisingly. Kei didn’t bother checking to see why as there were blockers jumping up to impede his path already. He swung his arm around quickly, but slowed at the last millisecond and tapped the ball with a small, neat arc right over their reaching fingertips. His surprise feint hit the ground a moment later.

“You could have nailed that one, you got enough height,” Kageyama commented blandly like he was annoyed Kei hadn’t spiked the ball as he had expected. 

“Hm? Oh, no need for that. Height or not, it scored,” Kei intoned.

“Irritatin’,” someone from across the net muttered, and Kei looked over to see that it was the setter Miya twin. The guy realized that he had Kei’s attention now and continued with the corners of his mouth lifting easily, “you block like I’d expect, but hit like I wouldn’t. But if I’m thinkin’ on it real specifically, the opposite is probably true, ain’t it?”

Kei raised his eyebrows at the opposing captain, “if you say so…”

Kageyama scoffed, clearly listening in, and the whistle blew for the next service. Narita-san rotated into the back and Tadashi subbed in to serve. He served the ball over in a jump floater just as reliably as ever, and scored a service ace. Then another one immediately after that. Kei started to wonder if he had secretly started up a service competition with Kageyama when his third got bumped messily by the wing-spiker twin. Kei surveyed the court, seeing that Inarizaki’s attack options were somewhat limited by the uneasy receive. However, after taking in all the information, it seemed most likely that Miya-san would send the ball back to his brother in a freak-quick. Just a second later, Kei spied Miya-san shifting his weight to give him the perfect leverage to send the ball along just as Kei predicted. He sprinted up the court and jumped in time, completely stuffing the twin.  _ Well, at least that's getting easier.  _

The game quickly snowballed into a deuce with Inarizaki at set-point. Kei watched the ball head straight to Suna-san and he jumped in tandem with Ennoshita-san to block, but that flexible guy smacked the ball around their arms. As if he had known that it was going to happen, Hinata was right there to dig the ball, sending it neatly back to the setter’s position. Kageyama moved to set but tipped the ball over the net at the last second in a dump. Miya-san lunged sideways and got a fist under it, sending it towards his brother, “‘Samu!”

Then that sly setter sprang up into the air from right where he was already and smacked the ball down in a freak-quick cut-shot. It took a second for Kei to register that the twins had reversed their combo and the spiker twin simply snapped the ball back to the other. Kei frowned, gazing at the pair across the net while they celebrated with their teammates. They had snagged the second set in a blink, almost literally. 

“Awwwwriight! A match to three full sets! We’ll get ‘em in the last one!” Hinata cheered, panting from his last sprint, but still grinning like an idiot. Tanaka-san and Noya-san laughed, then tackled the shrimp while shouting who knows what over each other to be heard. In all the chaos of the gym, it was lost anyway, and Kei scrunched his nose up at them while heading to his water bottle.

“Ew. That’s an inexcusable amount of energy. Seriously, where do they keep it all?” Kei commented dryly to no one in particular, taking a sip of his water bottle as soon as it was in hand, then pressing his thumb into his temple absently.

“So, are you actually going to talk to me about it, or not?” Tadashi sidled over and asked, folding his arms across his chest while peering at Kei suspiciously. It was a funny picture as the other usually never seemed so adamant to get a straight answer.  _ Ugh… herein begins that gentle nagging, unless I can throw him off somehow. _

“It’s day three… if we win this match, we’ll go right into another one. It’s exhausting. They could at least show some common decency in looking tired,” Kei complained mildly, “and  _ some _ people get so caught up in all of it that they make dumb decisions. You know, or maybe just stop thinking all together…” 

“Tsukki, you didn’t really answer my question… you can talk to me about it, you know? I’m your best friend…” Tadashi replied quietly, still peering at him. 

“Alright, fine,” Kei conceded. The gym felt oddly pressurized and that budding headache from earlier hadn’t ever blossomed into a problem, but still felt nagging all the same. He just didn’t want to deflect or argue anymore, “I honestly don’t know. I’m on the fence… and besides, there’s a whole other person involved too. That’s its own mystery. I’ll figure it out eventually, okay?”

“Okay… but are you sure you don’t want to tell him at least?” Tadashi nudged again.

“I’m sure,”

“Sure about what? That we’re gonna win the next one?! Tsukki! You’re so confident!” Hinata popped up out of nowhere, like usual, and Kei startled just a tiny bit. But it went unnoticed even by Tadashi as the shrimp continued, speaking rapidly, “ahh! Tadashi! Your serves were so on point during that match too! Like whifff and zoom! So fast! Maybe almost as fast as Miya-san’s, and he’s won awards for his an’ everything! Anyway, Tsukki, feel free to close off the line-shot a little more if you want, ‘cause I got your back! You’re figuring out how to stuff the bendy one, right? Well just in case, I’ll be waiting.”

He gave a happy thumbs up and bounced away to bother Kageyama, pulling the grumpy setter into his vibrantly intense gravity instead. Kei stared after him, trying to figure out exactly what just happened.  _ Can he see the adjustments I’m making with Suna-san?! _

“Wow, you look really disturbed right now. That’s interesting,” Tadashi commented, smiling.

Kei wiped whatever expression from his face and looked back at his friend, “shut up.”

“Sorry, Tsukki!” Tadashi placated, but it was definitely out of habit because he didn’t look remorseful in the least. 

The third and final set began a minute later and was off to a rocky start. Kei wondered idly if Tadashi and Kageyama’s serves had spurred on Miya-san because the setter was absolutely ruthless with his service. He ended up scoring two no-touch service aces with jump-spiking, then completely switched strategies and scored two more with jump floaters; all while targeting the players that had the hardest time with each respectively. Noya-san looked livid as he yelled ‘bring it oooon!’, but Kei doubted Miya-san would aim for him now that he was capable of picking up those jump floaters reliably. 

Miya-san sent the next serve over like a cannon blast right between the seam in the very back of the court. Noya-san dove to dig the ball, finally giving some control back to Karasuno. The receive was solid and Kei started running up to the net then jumped, synchronously with the rest of his teammates. Tanaka-san slammed the ball down in a super-sharp cut shot a moment later and scored, finally cinching off that serving genius. 

Kei sighed and shook out his limbs briefly before the next whistle, feeling that pressure persistently lingering around the court, and trying to rid himself of the sensation. He glanced over at his soulmate and watched him loudly praise Tanaka-san’s spike with a high-five as he switched out with Noya-san. Hinata happened to catch his scrutiny and came closer, “you okay, Tsukki? Not poopin’ out on us yet, right?”

Kei frowned down at him, “I’m fine. Just be there, keep an eye out.”

“Of course! It’s one hitter versus six up on the net, right?” Hinata grinned radiantly and Kei nodded then looked away, turning to get back into position while the whistle sounded around them. 

They picked up the pace and aggressiveness, which Kei didn’t think was possible, but broke even with Inarizaki. Each rally was becoming longer and more excruciating than the last, but they continually mobbed the net like the ravenous crows they were. Kei had gone through a whole rotation of the court and found himself where he was at the start. It was a good place to be when going against Suna-san, however, and he jumped to close off that line-shot even more. 

Hinata was there as he promised, and bumped the ball back to Kageyama, who sent it zipping right to Kei over the center. Kei jumped again but didn’t quite get enough height to ram it down in a straight pipe like usual, so he attempted another feint. They saved it this time and one of the twins sent it off to Suna-san over the center once more. Kei jumped for what felt like the thousandth time this match straight up as if he would close off that line-shot again. Suna-san smacked it down in his pliable counter-cross but his tilt was more shifted towards the center than before. It was just the right amount now as if Kei had been slowly unbending a tightly wound spring. He swiftly slid his arms over, made contact with the ball, and sent it careening to the floor. It bounced off the court loudly and he landed with a grin, finally successful in stuffing Suna-san.

“Whooaahhaaaa! Tsukki! You monster!” Hinata shrieked a second later.

“Bruh! Were you cookin’ that turkey the whole time? Cause you totally stuffed him good!” Tanaka-san shouted, grasping Kei’s shoulders and jostling him excitedly. 

“Nice block,” Kageyama muttered, scowling.

Kei rolled his eyes and waited for Tanaka-san to release him, then said blandly, “again, it’s only one point… and we’re behind.”

The whistle blew and they all started to refocus, but Hinata was staring at him now with his face all scrunched up in confusion.  _ Ah. Stop. Not that look. _

“What?”

“Tsukki, that was definitely one of those ‘one point worth a hundred’ moments. You’ve been nudging that guy’s hitting range over for like… what? The whole second set and this one too? And you did it! It was amazing!” Hinata griped, but the whistle blew again for Kageyama’s serve and the shrimp squeaked, quickly zipping back into position.

Despite his block being a breakpoint worth a hundred, Inarizaki had other plans. The Miya twins and their hitters started playing the court so chaotically that it was dizzying to figure out who would actually set the ball. It was admittedly an astonishing tactic that would only be achievable by these twins, but horrendously difficult to block effectively this late in the game. Kei wondered if they only started using this strategy this late because they knew their opponents would be at their wit's end. Ultimately, it brought Inarizaki to match-point, with Karasuno trailing them with twenty-two.

Then it was all over in a flash as Miya-san built up such momentum with the rally, spinning his players and the ball around like a carousel so effectively that he used the confusion to its fullest. He tipped the ball over his shoulder in one final setter’s dump completely out of nowhere. Kageyama even tried to get under the ball, hilariously, from the opposite side of the court as if he’d suddenly realized the ploy just a second too late, but it really was too late. Inarizaki disoriented the entire court and yanked the match out from under them completely. 

Kei paused, relishing in standing still for a moment, and simply breathed. They made it pretty far, top sixteen this time, but it was still quite the accomplishment. He knew his teammates would basically be unbearable the next time around with their desire and drive to win. They’d get another chance to take it further, anyway.

He glanced across the net at the opponents celebrating, goaded on by their fans in the stands, but immediately noticed their captain. The setter was leering across the net with a ridiculously haughty smile that seemed a little smugger than winning a volleyball match could have inspired. Kei squinted at him for a moment, but they were called to line up and thank the opponents for the game. He couldn’t help but silently observe Miya-san as he shook hands with Ennoshita-san and spoke about something or other that Kei couldn’t hear. But then post-game courtesy was done and they started heading towards their things.

Hinata walked by, looking bummed, but not devastated by the fact that they lost then paused abruptly when Miya-san called out, “Shouyou-kun!”

Kei paused for a split second too, curiosity almost grabbing hold, but he turned and kept moving. It was obvious that the shrimp had merely pulled yet another unwitting victim into his gravity.  _ Heh, good luck with that…  _

“Good game, Miya-san…” 

“Yeah! We totally crushed ya in the end there! Hah!” Miya-san said happily with that easy smile. Kei realized his bag was closer than he thought and decided to eavesdrop after all while drinking some water.

“Arrgh! I know! Honestly, though, that crazy ping pong ping setting was soo coool! I’m going to learn that too!” Hinata chirped back, definitely not crushed in the least. 

Miya-san gazed back at him for a beat like he hadn’t expected that kind of response, “well, I can teach it to ya maybe-“

“‘Sumu! Gin flipped out and gave Suna a bloody nose… looked like an accident, but ya never know. Coach wants you to sort it now,” The spiker twin appeared, putting his hand on the other’s shoulder. They all glanced around to Suna-san, who was a little ways away trying to cup his nose with his hand while streams of red ran freely down his chin.

“What?! What the heck?!” Miya-san yelped and walked away, completely derailed. 

Kei laughed into his water bottle while he watched Hinata staring after the twins’ retreat like he had just lost an opportunity to learn a new, secret technique; his expression appeared even more disappointed than when they had lost.  _ Volleyball simpleton.  _

They all loaded onto the bus right afterward to go back to the hotel and eat. Kei plopped down in his seat and rummaged through his bag to snag his headphones when he noticed his sports glasses case was missing. He stood up, alarming Tadashi who was sitting next to him and muttered ‘excuse me’ before moving to the front of the bus to find the captain.

“Excuse me, Ennoshita-san,” Kei interrupted the other’s conversation with Tanaka-san, “I think I left my glasses case back in the gym.”

“Ah! If you know where, run and get it! I’ll have them hold the bus.”

Kei nodded and exited swiftly, making his way back into the gymnasium to where his glasses most likely would be. He found them easily enough, then started to head back out of the double doors when he got stuck, trying to leave as some Inarizaki players entered, blocking the way and arguing loudly.

“-ruined my opportunity and he got away!” The setter Miya was lamenting, looking extremely grouchy.

“I ain’t done nothin’ like that. What do ya expect,  _ captain,”  _ his twin snipped back, “Coach asked. You gotta do what you gotta do. It’s not my job.”

“Yeah, whatever. But you totally could have just nipped it in the bud for me, y’know? Now who knows when I’ll get another chance like that, huh?” Miya-san said angrily, “and it wasn’t even a big deal anyway, Suna videos everything. What was Gin gettin’ so hot and bothered about? Idiot.”

“Hey! You asshat! I have a right to some privacy when I’m celebratin’ our win with my girlfriend!” ‘Gin’ chimed in, giving Miya-san a shove for his apathy.

“Then maybe ya shouldn’t’ve done that in the middle of the gym, duh!” Miya-san snapped at him while looking back over his shoulder and nearly running into Kei.

“Uh… excuse me,” Kei said politely, gave a short bow, then shuffled around them. He looked back over his shoulder while he escaped whatever drama that was, witnessing Gin-san shove Suna-san, roughly. Suna-san dropped his phone and scoffed in irritation. Kei turned away to mind his own business and headed for the exit, catching an angry ‘hey!’

He made it a few steps before he heard, “Tsukishi-“

“‘Sumu! Seriously?! Coach won’t let ‘em play if they’re fightin’ again. Then what?! Ugh, that phone's toast.”

“Auuugh! ‘Samu! You’re doin’ it again! Geez!”

Kei made a beeline for the door, maybe a little faster than he’d normally go. It was obvious that whatever was going on with Inarizaki would be a headache and he had no business getting involved in any way. He got back to the bus without further incident and found his seat next to Tadashi.

“I just had the most bizarre experience…” Kei said lightly, plopping back down and tucking his glasses case away where it should be.

“Eh? What happened?” Tadashi asked, looking up from his phone. Kei hummed, then pulled out his headphones and put them on before answering.

“Just Inarizaki and the Miya twins being… honestly, I’m not sure I even want to know what that was.”

“The Miya twins?! Argh! I wonder if they’ll win their next match too! Can you believe those moves they pulled during the last set?! It was like whoosh here and whoosh there and then ka-POW!” Hinata popped up suddenly from the seat in front of them and relayed all in one breath. Kei blinked at him, a little taken aback by his abrupt appearance, but the shrimp continued after a breath, “aww man! I really wanna try that out! Wouldn’t it be soooo cool to be able to set like that?!”

“You’d have to try for years before you could get a handle on something like that, dumbass,” Kageyama’s voice stated like it was fact, but he didn’t deign the others with his presence. 

“What?! Years? Aw c’mon, Stingyama! You could probably teach that to me if you really wanted to… y’know, Miya-san said he might-“

Kei rolled his eyes and pressed play on his phone, successfully dampening all outside noise from reaching his ears.


	17. HS

It was a fully autumn-filled Sunday afternoon, breezy with off-colored leaves whisking through the air while Shouyou stood outside of Natsu’s dance class studio. He and Kageyama leaned against the brick wall, loitering, waiting for her class to finish so they could pick her up and go to the park afterward. Shouyou adjusted his scarf, pulling it up and around his neck a bit more while he idly gazed across the street at anything that seemed a little bit interesting. 

“Soooo, you think Coach will finally put Tadashi in the starting lineup now for all games?” Shouyou said, wanting to do something other than standing around in silence. 

They had just qualified for spring nationals, their last chance to reach the top at spring nationals, and were working really hard on improving overall ground defense with everyone on the team. Tadashi was captain now and had put in a lot of effort to pick apart some of Nekoma’s more sneaky strategies so they could incorporate them into their own floor defenses. It was actually a genius way to bring balance with their current roster of players. Shouyou knew Tadashi was very good at those sorts of tactics, but he was usually so reserved about this stuff that it almost seemed like a power-up from behind the scenes.

“Yes, I think so,” Kageyama replied, tapping away on his phone, probably texting Suga-san, “it makes sense that it would be me, you, the beanpole, Yamaguchi, and Shoji for sure. Then obviously Yaotome will switch out with the back row like usual, and we’ll either go with the double-setter play with Tokita, which I think is most likely, or one of the first-years.”

“Pfft! Bakayama, please tell me you remember the names of the first-years… you’re the vice-captain!” Shouyou laughed, glancing over at his friend’s grumpy, impassive face.

“Of course, I do! Idiot… I just think we should try the double-setter lineup, is what I’m saying,” Kageyama grumbled.

“Hah! Sure! Okay, which one is the tallest, then?”

“It’s Goku,” Kageyama deadpanned.

“Ahaha! No! That’s just who he looks like! His name’s Goichi!” Shouyou laughed again, grinning at the other widely. Kageyama just shrugged as if to say ‘close enough’ and went back to typing his message. Shouyou looked away, smiling, and let his eyes linger on the couples across the street eating lunch at the little outdoor cafe. 

He caught sight of some familiar blonde and realized that Tsukki was walking away from a group of girls by the entrance of the cafe. It looked like he may have been chatting with them as he was bowing slightly towards them while he left them; but he held two coffee cups in his hands and edged away further, making his way to a table with someone else already there.  _ Argh! Tsukki is so freaking popular with his stupidly handsome, princely face!  _

Shouyou straightened up off the wall and squinted, recognizing the other at the table was Kunimi from Seijoh. Shouyou frowned and glanced at Kageyama to see if he noticed them too, but the setter was as oblivious as ever, so he shifted his attention back to the pair. It looked like Tsukki was actually smiling and talking with Kunimi casually. Shouyou knit his brows together, starting to feel weird that he was watching friends from a distance like this, but couldn’t seem to drag his eyes away now that he noticed them. Tsukki’s genuine smile was so charming, even from this far away, and Shouyou could tell that it was in no way fake or sarcastic.  _ He’s actually having a good time right now… Does Tsukki hang out with rival players like that a lot?! Wait… Are they on a date?! _

Shouyou blinked, mouth falling open at the sight while his mind went off the rails, thinking about how the snarky beanpole was so annoyingly popular. He’d like to think that it was for no good reason too, but he knew that it was actually for lots of very good reasons; even with the salty attitude. His soulmate had only gained popularity since becoming a third-year too, with everyone, seemingly everywhere; especially since their volleyball team kept making it to nationals. The new first-years on the team were over the moon with him too, constantly asking for blocking tips and tricks just to talk with him. Shouyou had caught Tsukki very incredulously repeating advice that he’d already given on several occasions.

Tsukki’s movements caught Shouyou’s attention again as he was suddenly setting down his cup and laughing. Shouyou sort of heard it, even from across the way and he stared, trying to guess what they were doing together. Tsukki suddenly reached out and touched Kunimi’s head, then pulled his hand away but Kunimi caught it deftly. It looked like he was saying something, then Tsukki was laughing again, mirthfully. Shouyou looked away and scoffed in mild frustration. He sort of felt conflicted that he was feeling this way and realized that he was a little jealous.  _ I shouldn’t even be jealous. I don’t have a right to be jealous… ‘cause it’s not like I’ve said anything about our bond or that he knows.  _

Kageyama had looked up at his frustration, “oh. Speak of the beanpole… wait, who’s he with?... Oh, is that Kunimi?”

“Looks like it,” Shouyou mumbled.

“Huh. They look close, do you think they’re soulmates?” Kageyama commented indifferently, “lazy, sharp-tongued assholes.”

“Kageyama! Vulgar! Mean! Don’t say things like that when they’re not even over here to defend themselves, sheesh…” Shouyou nagged him for his rudeness. Maybe the grouch still had something against his former middle school teammate, but that seemed like ages ago at that point.

“Well, I don’t think they’re soulmates. Couldn’t be!” Natsu piped up suddenly. Shouyou jolted, spinning around to find her standing next to them in her tutu with her backpack slung over her shoulders. She held onto the straps casually and continued, peering across the way, “look, that gloomy lookin’ guy has an armband on anyway! But the prince’s tattoo isn’t anywhere near there! You know that, Niicha-“

“Yes, yes! They’re probably just friends!” Shouyou shouted out quickly before Natsu ran her mouth anymore about soulmates.

“Ah! Let’s go say hi! I wanna talk to the prince!” Natsu said happily, not bothered by her brother’s mood.

“Nooooo! We gotcha! Now let’s go play at the park! Now! Right away!” Shouyou yelped and started walking in the right direction briskly, almost jogging with how quickly he started upping the pace.

Natsu whined as she sprinted to catch up, “aww! Fiiiine!” 

Shouyou glanced over his shoulder briefly, seeing that Kageyama had followed along without any arguments and was taking a volleyball out of his bag while he walked. Shouyou felt like he had dodged a bullet with that maneuver. He didn’t like talking about soulmates with anyone, really, and it usually worked out since Kageyama never mentioned them either for whatever reason. The phenomenon probably just didn’t interest him enough since he already found his soulmates already and was dating them. 

Shouyou had realized over the years since he first got his tattoo that he sort of appreciated the out-of-sight, out-of-mind situation he ended up in; it gave him a chance to really take the time to think about things and choose for himself.  _ Well, Nacchan’s right… they’re obviously not soulmates. But that doesn’t mean they’re not together. Does Tsukki actually date anyone though? Last time I got answers out of him, he just said he didn’t have the time… but we’re still super busy now… maybe he changed his mind, and maybe he doesn’t care about finding his soulmates. ‘To be determined’ he said, so long ago… that means he just hasn’t found them, right? It kinda seems like he’s not looking, then. What did I expect though? It’s super hard to find soulmates when your tattoo is in such a tricky place. Of course, he’s not going to go around asking to look at people’s ankles… I haven’t! So, I can’t really blame him for that! And I shouldn’t blame him for anything in general! Seriously, what am I expecting?! _

“Aaaugh!” Shouyou groaned out in frustration loudly, startling Natsu, who jumped and stared back at him. 

Kageyama stopped and squinted at him too, “what now?”

“Nothin’, sorry, don’t mind,” Shouyou said grumpily and caught the ball that Kageyama tossed over. They had already made it to the volleyball-basketball combo court at the park. Luckily, someone else had raised the net already.

“You sure, Niichan?” Natsu gazed at him skeptically, crossing her arms.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good!” Shouyou replied, and smiled brightly at her, “go ahead and play or whatever, didn’t you say Mika-chan would probably be here?”

“Yeah! I’m gonna go find her! She said she’d be by the playground.”

“Oh, okay! I’ll come with you for a sec! Kageyama! Be right back!” Shouyou said, then jumped and tossed the ball through a random basketball hoop near where the other was standing. Kageyama rolled his eyes and caught the ball on its second bounce before going back to inspecting the net.

Shouyou jogged to catch up to his sister, but she had apparently found her friend right away. He paused, waved to them, then crouched down and snagged a handful of playground sand. He lifted his hand in front of his face then let the sand slip through his fingers and fall to the ground again, making a little dust cloud appear and drift away in the breeze. He watched it intently for a second or two, taking a moment to refocus.

“Hey, Shrimpy, what are you doing?” Kageyama’s voice floated over as if on the same breeze, “are we gonna play or not?”

Shouyou turned and watched his friend walking towards him, volleyball tucked under his arm. He frowned slightly at the tall, bold, imposing, silhouette the setter made, but said confidently, “I’m going to train in beach volleyball.”

“Beach volleyball? This again?” 

“Yes! I’ve talked to Coach about it a lot, and it took a while, but we finally made all the right connections and contacts. I’m doing it. I’m going to use beach volleyball to train and then I’ll definitely have all the skills I need to go pro and beat you.”

“Pfft! You could probably get the skills here, you know?” Kageyama replied nonchalantly, a smile working itself onto his face. Shouyou smiled back at the expression.

“I think this will be a good way to get those skills. Just ‘cause people don’t do it this way, doesn’t mean it’s the wrong way or that it won’t work,” Shouyou continued lightly, beaming at his best friend. 

“Alright. We all know you’ll just do it anyway,” Kageyama shrugged then started walking back towards the court, “c’mon, dumbass.”

They spent a few minutes passing the ball back a forth across the slightly weather-worn net before they heard someone call out, “hmm? What’s this now? Why don’t you guys give it a rest. It’s Sunday. You do know that we have about two months until nationals…”

Shouyou caught the ball and snapped his attention towards that voice, knowing exactly who it belonged to.

“Yes, but I’ll be gone in Tokyo for nine days of that time. Between All Japan Camp and Koushi…” Kageyama answered, trailing off as he looked towards the voice he clearly knew as well. Tsukki stood on the side of the court with his hands on his hips, leering doubtfully at them while Kunimi stood right beside him.

“Yo,” Kunimi said listlessly with a little wave.

“Hey, Kunimi-kun!” Shouyou greeted the other genially. He really didn’t have any problems with the guy, unlike Kageyama; even if the rival player had snatched up a bit of his soulmate's attention. Shouyou paused to wait to see if Kageyama would say anything, but he seemed to have withdrawn into himself for the moment. Shouyou breathed out a small sigh and said, “let’s play a two-on-two!”

“What?” Came a flurry of confusion from the others in unison and Shouyou grinned.

“Yeah! Why not? We’re all here anyway. What? Are you super put-out that we gotcha good at this years’ qualifiers?” Shouyou asked happily, glancing along them and stopping on Kunimi.

“You’re… not going to let up, are you?” Kunimi asked blandly, squinting at Shouyou.

“No. There’s absolutely no chance of that,” Tsukki answered instead, “fine, I’ll play to ten points. That’s it.”

“Yessssss!” Shouyou cheered and pumped a fist.

“Ugh… okay, but… who against who? Because, no offense, but I don’t want to go against those two together,” Kunimi said while turning towards Tsukki, but gesturing lazily towards the freak-quick duo. 

“Hah?! Afraid of the challenge?” Kageyama finally piped up. 

“Yes, you’re the most competitive person I know,” Kunimi replied dryly. Shouyou laughed, noticing that Tsukki was laughing too. 

“Okay, okay, then how ‘bout you and Kageyama team-up since he’ll be able to set to you, no problem, and I’ll take Tsukki,'' Shouyou placated, smiling brightly, “it’ll be pretty even this way! ‘Cause I don’t know if we could sync up as fast as those two would, Kunimi-kun, but I do know that Kageyama’s the best… and I can definitely get the ball to Tsukki. Yeah? Let’s do it!”

“Hmmm? Alright,” Kunimi agreed easily, a super smug smile forming on his lips. Shouyou nodded slowly, wondering where that look came from but shrugged it off. He didn’t know the guy that well, so he couldn’t have guessed anyway.

Nine minutes and nine points later, Shouyou tossed a really high ‘four’ into the air and bent over, putting his hands on his knees for a second to take a breather. Just as he had thought, Kageyama had absolutely no issues with being able to set to anyone, even if he didn’t like them very much, and it was tough as Kunimi had a nasty spike too. Shouyou and Tsukki were ahead by only a single point, as his soulmate was weirdly good at two-on-two games, making it easy to just zip across the court and score. Being fast was really advantageous in this set-up too.

A second later, Shouyou refocused on Tsukki rather than keeping his eyes on the ball and realized his soulmate wasn’t planning to hit that ‘four’. Subtle body language told him that Tsukki was definitely going to pass it back even though he looked like he was jumping to spike. Shouyou ran up behind Tsukki to the opposite side on the left and sprang into the air with a loud kick. The sudden, unexpected movement confused the others across the net and Shouyou glanced over to Tsukki, catching his eyes as he lobbed the ball straight to him in a snap. Shouyou slammed it down right behind Kunimi who had only just started to move to block. Tsukki didn’t usually toss quick-sets that weren’t mostly planned out first based on certain positioning and receiving posture and all that; the fact that he just willingly did so on the fly made Shouyou elated. He landed lightly, grinned, and gave Tsukki a double thumbs-up, “woooo! Nice set, Tsukki! Super snappy!”

“Just… so demanding,” Tsukki complained, panting from all the work of a fast-paced two-on-two game, but it had no bite. Shouyou gazed at him, suddenly wondering why he had agreed so easily to the game in the first place. 

“Haha! Yikes… man, that’s a lot of work,” Kunimi intoned, grinning at Tsukki tartly.

“Tch, good game,” Kageyama growled out with his hands on hips and glaring at Shouyou through the net, “fast, shrimpy dumbass…”

Shouyou stuck his tongue out at him then snapped back, “sore loser. I thought you were getting so much better at that too! Haaaah… what’s this now? One thousand and seventy-one to one thousand and seventy-three? I’m gonna win, Bakayama!”

“Don’t tell me they keep score on  _ everything _ ,” Kunimi asked quietly, looking mortified.

“Unfortunately,” Tsukki replied, straightening up, putting his hands on his hips too, and hanging his head back in what looked like exasperation. But it could have been from all the activity from the game they just finished.

“Ah! That was fun! Thanks, guys!” Shouyou sighed out happily, then started stretching to begin his cool-down routine. Ever since not being able to finish a game back during their first nationals trip, Shouyou had diligently completed self-care routines to make sure his body never crashed like that again. He peeked over at the others while he finished stretching, seeing Kunimi look more than ready to leave.

“It was… uh, actually, it was exhausting,” Kunimi said sluggishly, “see ya next time, I guess.”

He waved half-heartedly and walked away. Shouyou called out hurriedly, “‘bye Kunimi-kun!”

“Ugh. I’ll be back,” Tsukki said, sounding really tired and Shouyou smiled to himself.  _ Hah! Tired-shima strikes again! I’m surprised he didn’t leave with Kunimi though… did our game just ruin their date? _

Shouyou sat down in a nice, grassy spot, crossing his legs in front of himself and closing his eyes. He listened to Kageyama doing some solo volleyball drills while he focused on his breathing. It was actually a lot easier to sit with his eyes closed and listen to outside noises, feel the weather on his skin, and focus on breathing than he originally thought it would be. It took a lot of practice for something so simplistic though.

“Hey,” 

Shouyou opened his eyes while he felt Tsukki press a water bottle against his shoulder. He looked up at the blonde beanpole and grabbed the cold drink. Tsukki walked away, calling out ‘king’ and tossing a water bottle to the setter as well before coming back over and sitting down next to Shouyou.

“Thanks, Tsukki…” Shouyou said quietly. 

“Mhm,”

“Are… are you sure you don’t wanna go catch up with Kunimi?” Shouyou ventured, unsure of where he might end up, “I, uh, didn’t know you guys were so close?”

“Hm? I don’t need to catch up,” Tsukki responded, leaning back on his hands languidly like he was completely done with any sort of effort for the rest of the day. 

Shouyou furrowed his brows and peeked at him while he took a sip of water. Tsukki simply continued to lean back casually on his hands, then blew out a long breath of air and fell backward into the grass, closing his eyes. He really did look at his limits for the moment, and Shouyou stared, trying to guess the reason. He seemed a little too tired for a two-on-two game to ten points, but then again, maybe Tsukki just had a lot going on. 

Exams for school were creeping up along with nationals, and Shouyou suddenly remembered that Tsukki mentioned he was taking mock tests for college entrance exam practice as well. He was always so cool and collected that it didn’t seem possible that he’d get overwhelmed, but maybe it was less being overwhelmed and more simple exhaustion. Shouyou frowned slightly while he swept his eyes over Tsukki’s features since the other was so unassumingly relaxed. He got stuck for a few lengthy seconds on those long blonde eyelashes, visible even under glasses, before he heard Natsu jog over from the playground.

“The prince!” She said, delighted.

“Nacchan! Good timing! Popsicles! Strawberry! Let’s go!” Shouyou shouted to her, springing up off the grass and heading to the park’s ice cream vendor. He didn’t even bother to see if Tsukki or Kageyama would follow; Kageyama was in the zone, and Tsukki didn’t look like he would ever lift another limb again.

They bought some popsicles and sprinted back to the others. Shouyou threw one to Kageyama, who snatched it out of the air expertly and nodded his appreciation. Then Shouyou flopped back down on the grass next to Tsukki and poked him in the forehead with the wrapped, chilly treat. Even though it was almost winter, Shouyou had a sneaking suspicion that this would be just what Tsukki needed. 

Tsukki furrowed his brows at the cold and opened his eyes, “really? In this weather?”

“You know you want it,” Shouyou said, smiling down at him and swishing the popsicle around the air above his face, “it’s strawberryyyy”

Tsukki grabbed it a second later and unwrapped it like some sort of eager animal, making Shouyou laugh brightly. Natsu joined in by giggling too. Apparently, she had just been watching their shenanigans. But Shouyou was more distracted by Tsukki’s blissful expression while he ate the treat to care what Natsu thought at the moment. He didn’t usually act so erratically, but strawberries seemed to do the trick. 

“So, whatcha guys do? Run a marathon? You look wiped,” Natsu commented while she gobbled down her popsicle.

“Ah! You shouldn’t bite them like that Nacchan… you’re gonna get brain freeze. We just played a two-on-two game. It was fun!”

“Why’s ‘Yama-kun still going?” Natsu asked, glancing over at Kageyama who was eating a popsicle and dribbling the ball at the same time like a deranged circus act. 

Shouyou shrugged, but Tsukki answered, “because he’s the king of the court, Nacchan.”

“Oh, well that’s okay. I like princes better anyway,” Natsu smiled sweetly at Tsukki. Shouyou rolled his eyes and took a big, chompy bite of his popsicle as Tsukki laughed at her silly flirt.  _ Oh, come on, Nacchan… quit teasing me. You know very well what I think about all this… _


	18. MA

Atsumu walked along with Bokuto to the other’s apartment. It took a little bit of hyped-up enthusiasm, but his spiker convinced him to come along for the party they were having for his friend’s birthday. In general, the noisy guy was really easy to get along with, especially after they clearly established their volleyball-teammate dynamic. 

Atsumu was doubtful at first when he joined the Black Jackals right out of high school, knowing that the super ace was notoriously moody and prone to dramatic ups and downs; but they worked it out on the first day. Bokuto hadn’t posed a problem ever since and Atsumu hadn’t really experienced any mood swings that seemed too unreasonable. 

It was a little harder than he thought, being scouted by a professional first-division v-league team immediately, then essentially whisked away to live in Tokyo far from everything he knew back at home. The sense of freedom was strange, especially with Osamu’s glaring absence from his side at all times. At first, he didn’t know what to make of it all. He didn’t usually care what others thought, but he found that he didn’t want to be completely alone either; regardless of how well he played volleyball. Ultimately, it was kind of nice that Bokuto lived in the Black Jackals’ training complex part-time as well; it was a perk that he turned out to be a pretty entertaining guy.

This is why he walked along with his newfound friend now, stuffing his hands in his jacket pocket to keep them away from the biting, winter air. 

“Who’s birthday issit again?” Atsumu asked through slightly clenched teeth from the cold, “one of your roommates? From your old team?”

“Bwah? Oh! It’s Daichi’s! Yeah, a roomie, but not from Fukurodani. Let’s see, Daichi’s from Karasuno, and so is Suga. And the last one’s my best bro from Nekoma, Tetsu!” Bokuto answered happily, counting off his roommates on his gloved fingers, “ah! But I think Suga’s boyfriend is staying right now ‘cause he was in Tokyo for that All Japan Training Camp! I think you’ll know a lot of these guys… you’ve probably met a ton of ‘em at nationals before!”

“Oh? I didn’t realize ya roomed with a bunch of volley guys too, Bokkun…” Atsumu chattered back idly.

“Hah! Of course! Here we are!” 

Bokuto opened the door and they walked into a party that was already in full swing. Atsumu raised his eyebrows at the sight, as there were people everywhere, and definitely more than just some guys he probably knew from nationals.

“Bokubro! You’re home!” A tall, pitch-black-haired guy with a sly face came over and enveloped Bokuto in a bone-crushing hug. 

“Tetsu! Wooooow bro! Check this place out?! How can ya even find Daichi-kun in here? Hahahaha!” Bokuto said loudly, hugging his friend back before letting go and gesturing towards Atsumu, “hey, hey, I brought Tsum-Tsum along!”

Atsumu gave a flippant wave of his hand towards the other. He hadn’t competed against Nekoma in nationals, so he didn’t know ‘Tetsu’ very well at all other than what Bokuto had mentioned in passing. 

“Oya? Now, this is fun! Nice to meet ya, Atsumu-kun!” Tetsu grinned widely, then started looking around the chaos of people, “now that you mention it, Bokubro… I  _ haven’t _ seen Daicchan in a hot minute… gotta track him down!”

“Oh! I’ll help ya, ‘cause I got something for him!” Bokuto said, smiling widely and Tetsu raised his eyebrows suspiciously but nodded. 

They took off a second later, expertly zigzagging their way through the groups of people loitering around their apartment and out of sight. Atsumu followed them with his eyes until they were gone completely, then surveyed the rest of the room in mild interest. They landed on a tall, familiar-looking figure who was sitting on a stool by the kitchen with a drink in hand.  _ Ah hah, someone I know… the blondie crow! _

Atsumu walked over to the guy, taking in his countenance along the way. The latter was just as coolly imposing as he had been the previous time Atsumu saw him at the last spring nationals tournament. It wasn’t actually that long ago, just back at the very beginning of the year, but it felt like eons. 

“Hey there, blondie! How ya doin’?” Atsumu said lightly, going over to Tsukishima and plopping down in the stool next to him. 

“Hm?” Tsukishima looked over to him, instead of watching the others across the room and said passively, politely, “oh? Hi, Miya-san. I’m fine, how are you?” 

Atsumu grinned, suddenly reminded of how irritating that bland politeness came across on the court. Now that it was simply used in a casual conversation without an ulterior edge, it seemed so different; but it was definitely the same. Atsumu couldn’t shake the feeling that this guy was probably just as fickle off the court as he was on the court.  _ Still interestin’, I see… _

“Kinda long way from Sendai, ain’t ya?” Atsumu replied, smiling at the other.

“Ah, I’m sort of just here as a favor to Kuroo-san… obviously I’d celebrate Sawamura-san’s birthday, but Kuroo-san really wanted to go all out…”

“No kiddin’,” 

Tsukishima smiled dryly, looking around the surplus of people for a moment before returning his gaze to Atsumu. He had a sort of puzzled expression wash across his face for a fleeting moment, then said, “hmm, nope. This is about what I’d expect from Kuroo-san though. Apparently, he’s going into sports promotion. I’ll give you two guesses to which sport.”

“Bet I’d get it in one, though,” Atsumu grinned and leered at the blonde before saying plainly, “badminton.”

Tsukishima blinked at him in return like he was blindsided, then covered his mouth with a hand, “pfft!” 

Atsumu felt himself grinning again while he watched the other very obviously trying not to laugh. Tsukishima played it off after a moment and looked away idly, taking a sip of his drink.  _ Really? Bad jokes? That’s what gets ya? Can’t tell if he thought it was actually funny or if he’s just laughin’ at me though. But I kinda don’t care if I get to see that face. Why’s he so intriguing though? ‘Cause he’s good-lookin’?  _

Just then, another familiar face passed by, stopped in front of the fridge on the other side of the dividing counter, opened it up, and disappeared from sight beyond it. They popped up like a daisy from behind the fridge door a second later, breaking Atsumu from his thoughts, “Atsumu-san!”

“Hey there, Tobio-kun! Have a nice time at camp this week? Miss me?” Atsumu greeted his rival setter, smirking, and slid off the stool to go get a better look at what the other was doing in someone else’s kitchen.

“...uh, actually, it was kind of quiet this year?” Tobio answered politely, then asked, “Which team did you join?”

“Black Jackals.”

The setter just nodded in acknowledgment, then told him seriously, “I’m gonna beat the record for serves.”

“I very much doubt that, Tobio-kun! Didja learn a decent jump floater yet?” Atsumu asked simply. It was unlikely he’d be usurped by anyone for serving awards or records. But Tobio was distracted in the fridge again doing who knows what. Atsumu was becoming exceedingly curious why he was rummaging in there in the first place, but he suddenly heard Tsukishima’s voice from across the short distance. 

He flicked his eyes back to the blonde, who had caught Tetsu’s attention, “Kuroo-san, is there alcohol in this?” 

The blonde rubbed at his head for a second while that lanky Nekoma guy leaned over and inspected Tsukishima’s cup appraisingly, then answered, “Nah, Tsukki-kun! Not in  _ that  _ one, you’re good! I’d steer clear of the punch bowl on the table though, Suga-chan made it…”

Atsumu laughed to himself as he watched the blonde glance over at the mystery-mix bowl on the table in disgust.

“No, but my consistency with accuracy is better,” Tobio said bluntly, snagging all of Atsumu’s attention once more. He peered at him, frowning, as the other started stirring the contents of a random container he had found, then took a bite.  _ What the heck?!  _

“I’m gonna blow your socks off in the pro leagues, Tobio-kun…”

“Oh my, what’s happening in here?” Someone else came into the kitchen. They walked right up to Tobio, stole his fork, and took a bite out of the container too. Atsumu stared for a millisecond before it dawned on him that it was Tobio’s pretty, soulmate boyfriend with the silvery hair and the nastily precise seam-serves.

“Atsumu-san and I are talking about the pro leagues…” Tobio said impassively.

“Hmmmm? How fun! It’s been a while, Atsumu-kun! How’s the v-league been so far? Has Bokuto been hittin’ your sets okay? You know, he gets kinda sensitive about setters…” The boyfriend asked genially with an incredibly disarming smile. 

Atsumu was halted in his tracks for a moment, realizing he hadn’t ever really spoken to the guy before, “uh…yeah?”

“Suuuugaaa-chan! What on Gaia’s green earth did you put in that punch bowl?” Tetsu was back again, hands on hips and staring down the guy. It finally clicked in Atsumu’s mind that ‘Suga’, Bokuto’s roommate and Tobio’s soulmate were one and the same; and apparently, fairly mischievous.  _ Hah! This place is just crawlin’ with Karasuno crows. I wonder if Shouyou-kun is here somewhere too?! _

“Excuse me, I need to borrow him for a bit,” Tetsu stated brusquely like some sort of businessman then steered Suga away and into another room. Atsumu watched them go, then looked back at Tobio. The latter nonchalantly took another bite of whatever it was, caught his eyes, then shrugged, completely unbothered.  _ Wild. Just gonna keep marchin’ to your own beat there, Tobio-kun? _

Atsumu huffed another laugh and let his attention drift towards Tsukki again. The blonde was now completely cornered by three girls; probably college friends of the birthday boy if Atsumu had to make a good guess. He leaned forward on the counter, propping himself up with his elbows, and eavesdropped unabashedly.

“-Aw! Not coming to Tokyo for college? That’s a shame, we could show you around! I like traveling by train though, wanna exchange numbers?” One of the girls said flirtatiously, leaning towards Tsukki.

The blonde smiled back at her with that bland politeness, “oh, I’m sorry. I’m actually here with someone.”

The girl visibly pouted, “oh yeah? Did you lose them? It’s not nice to leave your date alone, you know?”

Atsumu raised his eyebrows and peered at them, intrigued by how pushy this girl was being. He wondered how hard Tsukki would try to get out of this dilemma. It was clear as day that he was trying to avoid it; but if he wasn’t, then Atsumu was also kind of curious about who the blonde was dating. He unconsciously edged around the rest of the counter, so he wouldn’t miss out on what Tsukki might say next.

“Oh, thank you for your concern, but he’s back just now,” Tsukki said, smiling pleasantly, then turned his gaze towards Atsumu. He froze, and peered back, mystified, while the blonde said directly to him with a honeyed lilt, “come on, they think you’ve kept me waiting too long, you know? Maybe I’m starting to think that as well…”

Atsumu felt like he was at the height of bewilderment, but strode over to Tsukki anyway. Almost as soon as he was in reach, Tsukki slid a hand around his waist, leaning into him slightly.  _ Okay, this is your strategy now? Well, this is entertainin’!  _

“He’s taken,” Atsumu played along lazily, smirking at the girls and wrapping an arm around Tsukki’s shoulders, squeezing him comfortably closer.

The girls looked bummed, miffed even, then one of them said, “ah… yeah, I guess so. Maybe some other time then!”

They wandered off after that, talking amongst themselves; clearly giving up since they were just there to hit on Tsukki and nothing else. Atsumu leered at their retreating figures for a moment before refocusing on his ‘date’. Tsukki was squinting cynically at them as well, then waited a moment before slipping his arm from Atsumu’s body. 

He blew out a breath and let go too, before gazing at Tsukki, grinning, “Whoa-ho! Well, that was a new tactic there, Tsukki-kun!”

“If I remember correctly, you like trying new things, right Miya-san?” Tsukki commented, eyeing him in return, then said in a more genuine tone, “thanks for helping me out.”

“You’re the popular type then, ain’t ya? Kinda charming and whatnot.” Atsumu asked bluntly.

“Excuse me? I can assure you that I’m not,” Tsukki denied, but that was plainly a bald-faced lie. 

“M’kay, sure. Y’know, sometimes we don’t get what we want,” Atsumu replied easily, smirking at the other. 

“Heh! Yes, I’ve found that to be frequently true.” Tsukki said, giving him a small, sardonic smirk in return.

“So, ya got one more spring nationals to go,” Atsumu began, changing the subject. He felt bizarrely at ease at the moment, and compelled to maintain the atmosphere between them, “Tobio-kun seems real gung-ho. Says he’s gonna beat my records an’ everything.”

Tsukki eyed him briefly before looking away and absently across the party-goers, “honestly, he just might. They’re monsters, the pair of them.”

“That’s true, that’s true… but I seem to recall a few more monstrous crows. Where are you gonna play after high school?”

“Hm? I’m not sure I will continue playing since I’m going to college full time,” Tsukki replied, still surveying the rest of the party casually. Atsumu frowned, confused, as he distinctly remembered the blonde being ferociously tenacious.

“Is that right? And here I was thinkin’ you played the long game,” Atsumu commented, peeking at Tsukki subtly. He didn’t know why he cared, but it seemed like a waste for the middle blocker to put volleyball aside when he was clearly smart enough and talented enough to do both school and professional volleyball.

“Hm,” Tsukki hummed, “if you say so.”

“Speakin’ of crows, though, where’s the squirt?” Atsumu asked, gazing around the sea of unknown faces ebbing throughout the house. There was no sign of that bright, zippy presence.

“Shouyou? Probably off in a sandpit somewhere,” Tsukki answered dryly.

“Sand-“

“Tobio-chan! It was your birthday too, recently! Happy birthdays all around!” Suga announced loudly by the entrance of the kitchen as Tobio had apparently finished snacking and was wandering in that direction. Suga suddenly grabbed the surly guy and planted a kiss on him right in the doorway. Atsumu stared in surprise by their very open display of affection as Tobio returned the gesture.

“Hah! They sure are close…” Atsumu remarked, souring a little bit out of jealousy.

“Hmm. Yes, they’re soulmates and have basically always been like that. It’s disturbing. The number of times I’ve witnessed something or other like that happen is staggering,” Tsukki said as he gazed at them too, looking bored and peeved at the same time.

“Ah man, I want that,” Atsumu muttered while watching Tobio finally release Suga, who laughed and playfully smacked him in the stomach.

“Hm? Haven’t found yours yet, then?” Tsukki asked with that politeness creeping back into his voice.

“Yeah, kinda. I need to get a solid confirmation though… but last time I was about to solve it, things got outta hand. I’ve been thinkin’ on how to talk to them again. ‘Samu pestered me a ton, sayin’ I should be careful about it, so I don’t-” Atsumu explained quietly then stopped, unsure why he was chit-chatting with this sassy blonde about personal things. Tsukki glanced over at him after the pause in silent question, cueing Atsumu to finish his thought, “Well, basically, so I don’t piss ‘em off.”

Tsukki narrowed his eyes critically for a moment, then smirked, “oh? I see. That’s decent advice. Good luck, you’ll need it.”

“Hey!” Atsumu snapped, but Tsukki just started laughing. Atsumu fizzled out, watching the other laugh at his expense. But he didn’t necessarily mind it all that much.

“Heh! Sorry! If you’re that determined, it’s probably best if you just show them next time you see them. Don’t you think?” Tsukki said with a charming tilt of his lips still lingering from his laughter. 

“Yeah. You’re right. Straightforward an’ upfront. Just seize it.”

Tsukki’s smile turned bland again and he glanced down at his phone, “hmm, well this was…diverting. But I have a train to catch. See you around maybe, Miya-san.”

“Yeah, sure. See ya, Tsukki-kun!” Atsumu responded distractedly, wondering if he really would or not. He hoped that he would since not many people took his attitude in stride. Atsumu couldn’t help but notice that Tsukki did so with finesse, seemingly unbothered by all the annoying details Osamu always harped on him about. Not that he had really paid attention beforehand, but now that he was constantly around new people, he had to start trying to factor in how he said things. It was sort of refreshing or nostalgic in a weird way, that Tsukki didn’t take offense to anything he said. He watched the guy saying goodbye to random people throughout the room on his way out until he was gone.  _ Huh, it’s a real shame he’s not comin’ to Tokyo for college. Can’t wait to see if he ends up joining a professional team. Kinda shrewd all around, that one. _


	19. TK

Kei bent over, grasping his knees and breathing hard while the whistle blew, signaling a point for Karasuno. It was the final set of the fourth day for spring nationals, semi-finals, and they had gone into an excruciatingly lengthy deuce of a game against Itachiyama. He squinted over at his soulmate, who had just evened out the score again, thirty-one to thirty-one. The shrimp looked exhausted yet giddy, bursting with that insatiable drive to absolutely smash every single ball that flew into the air. That drive plus excellent serving by the king and Tadashi were the main reasons why they had taken the first set. But now, after their loss of the second and rigorous, never-ending battle for the third, it appeared like Shouyou was starting to dim to embers. Kei honestly didn’t think it was possible. He didn’t think Shouyou would let that happen again and wanted to trust that he knew his limits by now. _You’re using too much of your stamina to run the length of the court for every single play… they’re starting to predict your movements too, which means all that sprinting won’t work. Don’t go supernova on us and burn out…_

“Hey,” Kei called out to him calmly, then walked over and rested a hand on his shoulder when he didn’t respond yet continued to stare vacantly across the net. Shouyou startled slightly at the touch and brought his attention to Kei’s face with absent, preoccupied question. Kei peered at him for a beat and checked just in case, “you good?”

Shouyou seemed to snap back into reality, a radiant smile blossoming on his exhausted face, “I’m great!”

Kei couldn’t help but smirk back at him with how ridiculous his unhinged expression came across, “Ah, the inspiring words of the ace.”

“Yeah… yeah! I _am_ the ace! And I’m gonna score ten more points!” Shouyou exclaimed loudly, clenching his fists like he was trying to contain his new, budding enthusiasm, and completely missing the sarcasm. 

“Let’s just start with two consecutive points for the win, okay?” Kei remarked dryly, giving the other’s shoulder a squeeze before releasing him, “calm down and come back to earth while you’re at it, you’re scaring the first-years.”

The shrimp suddenly glanced around at the sidelines as if he wanted to confirm that the first-years were paying attention. Then he nodded sagely while getting back into position and muttered, “I promise to follow the way of the ace.”

Kei smirked again and turned away to hide a few laughs from the other. He couldn’t tell if his soulmate was being serious or not. There was a fair chance it could go either way. _Heh! He’s probably serious._

“Shouyou wrangler,” Tadashi whispered in passing while he moved to the edge of the court to serve, looking particularly smug, “nice save!”

Tadashi had to have missed the dirty look Kei shot his way as the whistle sounded a moment later and he served the ball, completely in the zone. His serve was bumped as Itachiyama’s number five went after it even though it seemed like it would be out. However, it was probably a good call on their end since most of Tadashi’s speedy jump-floaters looked as if they’d simply sail out of bounds; yet they never did. The ball made a few fast-paced exchanges across the net until he saw it fly back towards the front in a feint. Kei bumped it to Kageyama fluidly, then glimpsed the rest of the court quickly as he could. 

There wasn’t enough time or space to get a solid approach from his position after receiving that netball, and he looked behind himself just in time to catch Shouyou kick hard off the ground from the back-row. His soulmate sprang diagonally to the left, clearing nearly half the court in an insane attempt to confuse and escape the opposing blockers. Kei stared, completely taken in by the sight of watching Shouyou soar through the air in perfect spiking form, yet in such a strange direction considering it was a back-row attack. The shrimp railed the ball a second later, successfully circumventing the blockers, but Itachiyama miraculously dug it somehow. 

They bumped it to the very back right corner of the court that Shouyou had left open in his crazy, impulsive back-row-slide-shot, and scored. Shouyou landed and scoffed, clearly irritated with himself for taking a gamble with that move. However, it was aggressive, tactical, and novel, which had a very solid chance of working this late in the game when the opponents’ brains were fried. On top of that, even though they didn’t score with the shot, it was irrefutable that the athleticism in that move was amazing. _I don’t think I could do that in a million years. He really is incredible sometimes. It’s so infuriating that it makes me want to push past my own limits too just by watching him. My own limits? Maybe I can do both… college and professional volleyball… maybe it is worth trying. If he can be assertive enough to improve his game sense at the very end of a high-stakes game like this, maybe I need to try a little more too. I can always shoot for a lower division team. It doesn’t have to be the top team or bust. Damn, he really is the ace._

Kei squinted at the opposing setter getting his hands on the ball sloppily and jumped to block a spike, coming back into the moment. Number five hit the ball on a delay, sending it tumbling between Kei and Kageyama’s bodies and the net, but Kei got a fist under it. The ball bounced off his hand unsteadily, flying back behind him. Tadashi lunged forward and saved it in time, sending it back towards the net. It seemed like the ball would easily fly over, but Kei heard Shouyou leave the ground again and caught a glimpse of the king jumping to intercept the ball. A second later, it was being smashed to the other side once more, nearly too quick to follow. Yet somehow, a lone blocker was already there like they had suddenly decided to shadow the shrimp for this single hit. Their hands created a nasty wall, just at the perfect moment, sending the ball pinging downward right past Shouyou’s descending figure. It was a hair out of reach and slapped the floor with Shouyou landing directly beside it a millisecond later.

Kei put his hands on his hips and hung his head back, hearing the whistle sound off for the end of the match, and peeked out of the corner of his eye at his soulmate. Shouyou hadn’t budged, still staring quizzically at the ball rolling away. He visibly took a big breath in then out almost as if he was resetting himself, then put his hands on his hips too. 

“Hnn… top three, huh?” 

“Yeah,” Kageyama commented, “center court was fun, don’t you think?”

“Mhm, it was really fun… super fun! I’m going to do it again, loads of times!” Shouyou replied, turning towards the setter and smiling brightly. Kei couldn’t believe how blindingly happy the guy looked, even though he was drenched with sweat, exhausted, at his limits, and at the end of their final spring nationals journey. Kei sighed, trying to even out his breathing, but it turned into exasperated laughter instead. _They’ve both changed so much… and still, Shouyou has that unyielding resolve. Inescapable gravity like the sun. I’m reminded of it every time I see him now and I know I can’t pull away. Oh, wait… when was the last time I really tried to pull away? Oh… I haven’t… for a while. Oh, I see. Well, shit._

Kei realized the other two were staring at him now, bemused, and he took another breath before saying listlessly, “alright, well, it’s all over now. Yeah, I guess it was fun.”

Shouyou grinned at him and even the king quirked a smile before scoffing and heading to the sidelines. The gymnasium was in utter mayhem at this point from how lengthy and incredible the final set had been. Kei glanced around, taking it all in for a moment until Tadashi shuffled up to them, urging him and Shouyou to follow through with post-game etiquette along with the rest of the team.

They thanked their team’s supporters in the stands as everyone in the gymnasium began to disperse. Kei drank from his water bottle, watching the rest of his teammates cooling down, discussing the match. He preferred to stay out of it for a moment, only catching snippets of what they were saying. 

Akiteru suddenly came down from the stands, courtside, and said while smiling, “that was a great game, Kei.”

“Thanks, Onii-san… and for coming too,” Kei replied, too tired to put up any walls with his brother at the moment. Not that he had too many left anyway.

“Of course, Kei-“

They heard bright, gleeful laughter and Kei looked back over to his teammates, finding Shouyou as the source. He didn’t know what was going on, but it was nice to see that the pipsqueak ace was just as radiant as usual, despite discussing the match results. Kei smiled absently in his exhaustion and watched for a moment before taking another sip of water. 

“Oh, I see what’s going on here,” Akiteru said suddenly and Kei tore his eyes away from the shrimp to look at his brother instead.

“What do you mean?”

“You smile at him just like mom smiles at dad…” Akiteru commented, crossing his arms casually, “I see, I see… well I’m glad you’ve found one. I really like that guy too! Nice!”

Kei stared at his brother in mild shock at being so easily discovered. He had barely come to terms with the idea himself, and it would be a problem if he was so transparent. Shouyou had his own asinine post-graduation travel plans, after all. It seemed like poor timing, which was something Kei really didn’t appreciate.

“Not going to happen, sorry. He’s going places, full throttle. Who am I to stand in his way?”

Akiteru gazed back at him, his smile slowly fading into neutrality, “is that so? Well, yes, it’s plain to see that he is going to achieve awesome things… does that mean you’re not, though? I guess that ultimately, it’s up to you to figure out how you want to navigate this, Kei. I don’t know if you’ll want my opinion, but I think that some things are worth the effort, even if the endgame isn’t clear.”

“I know that I’ve slated myself to stay in Sendai, peacefully.” Kei replied, then added, “he’s not falling off the face of the earth. Just taking a detour to the other side… who knows, maybe his antics will get him what he wants. Besides, there’s no stopping him, and I’ll tell you what I’ve decided… it would be a disservice to him to try.”

“Okay, okay!” Akiteru placated, throwing his hands up, “geez, so defensive. In deep, huh? Ah, look, they’re calling for you. I’ll see you later, little bro! It really was a great game!”

Akiteru smiled, then took off before Kei could say anything in return. He squinted after his brother for a moment before turning around, coming face to face with Shouyou. 

“Hey, c’mon, Tsukki! We’re heading out now.”

Kei just nodded and followed the shrimp over to the rest of his teammates, then they headed for the lobby to catch up with Coach Ukai, Takeda-sensei, and Yacchan who had gone on ahead. 

“Man! I can’t believe they got you with that wall at the end there, Hinata-san!” Shoji commented while they walked, “but that back-row slide just before that?! I didn’t even know that was a thing! I can’t believe they dug that too… how can you see something like that comin’?”

“Hah! Hnn… Well, maybe it would work out if it was tried again… their libero was all over it, I guess,” Shouyou replied happily.

“Well, maybe you should think about the completely free and empty space you left behind, dumbass.” Kageyama scolded him sharply.

“Whaaat?! I thought they might be too tired-out to catch me, though! Especially since I tried something new! C’mon, that was totally an ace move! ‘Hit any ball to his utmost ability.’” Shouyou prattled, throwing in a random quote that seemed really familiar to Kei for some reason, then paused, saying seriously, “Therefore! I am imbued with the wisdom of the ace!” 

“You got that off a t-shirt, hardly a mantra to live by…” Kei remarked. 

“Hey! You can totally live by that and just take it as an analogy, y’know!” Shouyou shot back across Kageyama, who was peering straight ahead at the lobby. Kei raised his eyebrows at the shrimp but lost sight as the king suddenly charged ahead towards the small group of people waiting for them. Kei followed the setter with his eyes instead, realizing that Suga-san was there too, and simply watched as Kageyama scooped him up into a tight embrace. 

“Alright, team! Let’s go eat and repair our bodies!” Tadashi called out a moment later, clearly wanting to shepherd them all to the restaurant already, regardless of their setter’s extracurricular plans.

They made it to a local family-owned restaurant in no time and sat together at a huge table. Kei found himself wedged between Shouyou and Tadashi, Yacchan beside him, then Kageyama and Suga-san on the end while the second-years sat across from them and the first-years and adults further along the table. Kei glanced around everyone briefly, seeing the second-years absolutely staring at Suga-san, seemingly entranced, while he just smiled back pleasantly. Kei rolled his eyes and picked up a menu. _This may turn out to be somewhat excruciating…_

“Tokita, stop staring. You’re going to burn a hole straight through Suga-san’s head.. and then we’ll all have hell to pay.” Kei remarked while he perused the menu.

“I’m so sorry!” Tokita apologized, then asked, “Um.. are you foreign?” 

“Hmm? No... I’m from Sendai.” Suga-san replied kindly, but Kei could tell his former vice-captain was disbelievingly bemused.

Shouyou piped up, smirking at his kouhai, “come on, Tokita-kun, you know that’s Kageyama’s soulmate, Sugawara-san..”

“Ah.. yeah. It’s just hard to imagine Kageyama-senpai with someon-..” Tokita said absently, not finishing his thought out loud. 

“Doubt that... I bet you imagine it all the time...” Shoji commented dryly.

Kei glanced at the wing spiker for a millisecond, then raised the menu up a little higher in front of his face to block out his silent laughter. It was pretty obvious that Tokita idolized Kageyama.

“Shut up Shoji-kun.” Tokita griped, shoving the other roughly.

“So what position do you guys play again?” Suga-san asked lightly, taking up his menu and looking it over lazily.

“I’m a wing spiker!” Shoji said brightly.

“Libero...” Yaotome added, still blatantly observing Suga-san, but it seemed like he couldn’t care less. 

“I’ll be the setter... oh.. I’ll be the setter at Interhigh next..” Tokita paled as if he had just realized this was their last game with the king. It was almost strange to reflect back on the match they had just finished, and fully settle with the idea that it was the last. Kei’s focus lingered on the printed words in front of his face, but he wasn't really taking in any information for once. 

“You know, I taught him everything he knows,” Suga-san said, peering at Tokita, whose mouth dropped open like he was awestruck by the notion. Kei’s attention was yanked from those blurry words and he rolled his eyes again, knowing that this comment would most definitely start something; he suddenly realized that he was a little irritated that the king had such an easy time with the soulmate situation. It was a random, fleeting thought, but Kei was irked by it all the same. _Ugh, we know exactly what you’ve taught him… Can’t we just get through this without stirring the pot?_

“Yes, yes, we all know you taught him loads of things on and off the court...” Kei commented sardonically, unable to help himself at this point. He put down his menu and gazed at Suga-san pointedly.

“Tsukishima Kei!... that’s true though.” Suga-san looked back at him sternly, “Still! I’ll give you a good smack, ya beanpole! Seriously, did you get even taller? How?”

Kei threw his hands up in surrender and shrugged, smirking at the other. He didn’t want to incite an attack anyway, and Suga-san was always scrappy. 

Tadashi laughed at them then slumped over the table with his face resting in his palm casually, “Ah, I miss this sometimes. Suga-san, it’s kinda pointless now, since this was our last game and it’s time to move on.. but how did you do it? I remember Ennoshita-san having a rough time for a bit... but it worked out because he was actually pretty stern and scary!”

Suga-san smiled blandly at the tired captain, “oh you know, a little stick, a little carrot. Tobio-chan was the hardest one to wrangle in, to be honest.. but I think there was a lot going on there..” he said vaguely, then looked across at the second-years steadily while they just stared back like they were mesmerized, “You guys will be fine.”

They all just continued to stare, nodding slowly. Shouyou laughed brightly at them and asked, “geez, what’s wrong with you guys?” 

Kei let out a small ‘tch’ and picked up his menu again to retreat. It was clear Kageyama had finally decided to intervene as he had leaned over and was whispering who knows what into his soulmate’s ear. Kei really didn’t want to know.

Kei heard Suga-san mutter something that sounded like ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ then the king started laughing, loudly, unexpectedly.

“Oohhwaahh! What’s so funny? What happened?” Shouyou chirped, looking between them, and even Kei peered at them from behind the menu once more, the sound finally piquing his interest.

Suga-san grinned, “it’s nothing, don’t mind!” 

Kageyama started getting touchy again with more hushed words hanging between the pair, and Kei grimaced, knowing exactly where this was heading. Not even half a minute later, they were intertwined, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Alright. Come on, guys.. seriously, it took you all of fifteen minutes before you caused a scene. Kageyama, we’re in a restaurant, not a garden... prune the flowers later.” Kei remarked, fully annoyed now. 

Shouyou just started laughing loudly, and didn’t let up when he glanced at the first and second years; they were in very real shock. Kageyama had clearly decided to use this opportunity to be as obnoxious as possible with the display, and Kei caught Tadashi rubbing his head, looking completely done. 

“Oi! Kageyama-kun! Cut it out or I’ll kick ya out!” Coach Ukai called out from the other side of the table. 

At Coach’s not-so-subtle urging, Kageyama finally pulled away from his boyfriend and nodded curtly. Now that everything had settled down, Kei went back to the menu for a chance to disengage from it all once more. He heard his teammates chit-chatting about the past and was bluntly reminded for the second time that things seemed like they were heading to a close. _Why do things feel so final right now? Why do I actually feel a little disappointed?_

“Hey, shrimpy ace,” Kei said quietly, peeking over and nudging Shouyou with his elbow lightly. The latter looked back, catching his eyes, and tipped his head in question, so Kei continued, “remind me, what’s the first measure of 'the wisdom of the ace'?”

“Ah! It’s that they inspire their allies!” Shouyou rattled off confidently, smiling in that way that Kei was really starting to have a hard time keeping his eyes from. _Yeah, that’s what I thought. That’s about right._


	20. HS

Shouyou shucked his school uniform jacket, tossing it over his shoulder as he walked along to get a final peek at the volleyball gym. It was graduation day, and all the pomp and ceremony had finished. He said his goodbyes to his classmates already but just had to get one last feel of the wooden gym floor beneath his feet before he could say goodbye to it all. He paused right before reaching the doorway, hearing it, that familiar smack of a volleyball striking the floor. It made him smile, as he could almost tell by the sound alone that it was Kageyama serving a ball. 

Shouyou briskly tossed his stuff to the side and dashed towards the opposing court of his now-former teammate. Kageyama was serving again, as suspected, and Shouyou managed to catch it just in the nick of time. It brushed off his arms neatly, and he subtly directed it to the setter’s position even though he was alone on the court this time. He straightened up and glanced across the net at Kageyama, grinning. 

The setter smiled back and put his hands on his hips, “So, you’re really going to Brazil?”

“Yep. The beach is calling,” Shouyou said, grin widening, “so, you’re really going straight into the v-league?”

“Yes, but first with the national team. Olympics are next year and I’ve been scouted,” Kageyama replied easily as if it was obvious this would be the case. But it really was just like that, no question.

Shouyou rocked on his feet a bit and nodded before saying, “I’ll be doing the Olympics too. Maybe not this time around with you, but next time for sure. You just wait.”

“I believe you,” Kageyama nodded back at him. It felt like a promise. A long-game promise to continue their rivalry and compete against each other one day. The thought of having to wait was frustrating, but Shouyou knew it would be so much better if it was a true battle of skills once he finished his special training.  _ I will beat you one day, Kageyama!  _

“Argghh. So you’ll be training in Tokyo then?” He asked quietly, “you’ll be with Suga-san?”

Kageyama nodded again then said, “I’m moving in with him soon, since I’ll be joining the national team’s practices next month.”

“Uwaah. I’m so jealous! Seriously, how did you of all people manage to find your soulmates and keep a solid relationship with them?” Shouyou replied grumpily, huffing, and crossing his arms. When he thought back on it, it was kind of a miracle. Shouyou still felt like he was in the weeds on the soulmate phenomenon, barely sweeping through and getting whacked in the face by stray blades of grass.

Kageyama hummed and looked away for a moment before bringing his focus back to Shouyou’s face, saying calmly, “you never really bring it up.. what’s going on with yours?”

“Haaaaah...” Shouyou let out a strained sigh, “well I still don’t know both of them, just the one. And I don’t think I really made any progress on that front either. Volleyball is so important to me so I spent my time concentrating on that and my soulmate doesn’t seem to like me even after all this time and I don’t think he even knows it’s me that matches him anyway. Kind of.. out-of-sight-out-of-mind? I don’t know. Maybe once I’m back from Rio I’ll have a better idea of what I want to do about it. Loads of people don’t even meet their soulmates until college age anyway, so what’s the difference putting it off now? I was being serious earlier, I don’t know how you manage the long-distance thing with them.”

Shouyou gazed at his best friend, wondering if this would be one of those moments where the other happened to say something enlightening. It always seemed to happen when he wasn’t expecting it, anyway.  _ I wonder what you would do, if you were in my shoes with this? _

“Well, everyone just does what they want,” Kageyama stated bluntly, “either you’re willing to want it and work for it or you’re not.”  _ Ah, okay. So… you’d just plow on through and deal with the fallout if someone didn’t want it.  _

Shouyou blinked at him for a second then grimaced, “Yeah.. I guess it’s really that simple, huh?” 

Kageyama nodded and Shouyou frowned, knowing that what he said was exactly the answer.  _ Ugh, easier said than done. Bakayama and your stupid, simple, perfect reasoning skills. _

Shouyou lobbed the ball back to Kageyama, who caught it easily, “one more!”

Kageyama spun the ball in his hands then tossed it up to serve, sending it to the opposite side of the court this time. But Shouyou caught the tell, and sprang after it in a flash, bumping it easily. It sailed up in a beautiful arc to the setter's position on his side of the court, then fell and bounced lightly off the ground, echoing around the gym.

Shouyou grinned, “See ya later, Kageyama!”

“Yeah, see you later,” Kageyama said, smiling in return. Shouyou meandered back to his stuff, snatched it up, and left through the gym doors for maybe the last time.

He walked leisurely along the path by all the sports club buildings that led towards the campus gates, taking in the view until his eyes caught that blonde hair like they always seemed to do. There was no question who it was since Tsukki was so tall and probably one of only six blondes on campus. Shouyou stopped, squinting at the other from their good distance apart. 

As usual, he was with a girl. Shouyou huffed, leaned against the chain-link fence surrounding the baseball field, and watched, knowing what was probably happening. It was the last day they were students, which meant the last day for those ideal, heart-baring confessions. All those cutesy, romantic scenes from the shows Natsu convinced him to watch with her swirled around in his head. He was definitely too far away to hear, thankfully, but he could read body language like a pro. He blew out another breath of air, admitting to himself that he was definitely jealous, and made up their conversation aloud to himself while he waited for them to be done talking so he could pass by without interrupting.

‘Oh, Tsukishima-san! how I love, love, love you! Please be mine forever and ever!’

‘Ah, but alas, I cannot, because I’m just too tall! It is really my ultimate goal to brush the heavens with my golden locks! This quest alone is my one true love!’

‘Oh no! For shame! I shall never grasp such heights alongside you! But I congratulate you on your cleverness in reaching for such godliness! And shellfish!’

“Shellfish?” Shouyou repeated to himself, realizing that he must have accidentally read the girl's lips instead of creating her narrative, “haha! What?!”

Tsukki bowed politely to her a moment later, then happened to turn and started walking towards Shouyou, “bwah!” 

He suddenly wanted to hide, thinking that maybe they had somehow heard his little story after all, but there were really no options. All he could do was clutch the fence, and wait to see if Tsukki even noticed him standing there anyway. 

“What are you doing?”

“Ah! Hey, Tsukki! Nothing! Just taking one more look around is all!” Shouyou relayed quickly.

Tsukki peered at him suspiciously, then walked over and leaned against the fence too, sighing in apparent grief. Shouyou felt the links bend back slightly at the added pressure, but he still clung on for dear life; Tsukki seemed really agitated. 

“What’s wrong? Couldn’t reach heaven after all?” Shouyou asked idly, trying to escape the silence after what seemed like a heavy pause.

“Excuse me?” Tsukki questioned, glancing sideways at him while he rested his head back against the metal links.

“Ah, nothin’! Don’t mind!” Shouyou answered hurriedly, then asked, “what happened, though? Get too much attention today?”

“Entirely,” Tsukki droned out, closing his eyes.

Shouyou frowned, knitting his eyebrows together in a marred mix of feelings. He was annoyed, frustrated, relieved, jealous, nervous, curious, and a slew of other complex emotions that were starting to make him a little dizzy. Tsukki abruptly opened his eyes and looked over, then reached out and prodded Shouyou right between his eyebrows with a single finger. 

“Bwuh?!” Shouyou yelped, his face relaxing instantly with his surprise.

“You don’t need to be making that face, everything’s fine,” Tsukki said listlessly, “You’re serious about switching over to beach volleyball?”

“What? Like I’d go all the way to Brazil on a whim?” Shouyou asked plainly.

“Mhm, just wanted to be sure your impulsive idiocy hadn’t grabbed the wheel and started driving again,” Kei murmured, but the usual bite to the remark was noticeably weak as if he had already met his sass quota for the day. Shouyou still felt a little irked that he said it anyway.

“Geez! What is it with you and Kageyama? Will you die if you don’t say something snarky every three minutes?” Shouyou grumbled.

“I am  _ not  _ like him, thanks,” Kei replied blandly.

“I’m going and I’m serious because I can’t win on my own,” Shouyou stated, ignoring Tsukki’s protest. He paused for a second to see if Tsukki had any more colorful commentary, but he was just gazing back like he was waiting for an explanation, so Shouyou continued, “but the best teams are going to have the best setters, right? If I’m going to get a great setter and convince him to let me fly, then I have to get good enough to make it on those great teams.”

“Hmmmmm… so, you’re really going?” Kei said, subdued, still gazing back at him. It wasn’t a question, but more of a confirmation.

“Yes! Everything’s all planned, plane ticket’s booked, the beach is-“ Shouyou listed off, then caught Tsukki’s eyes. They were softened somehow, maybe by the afternoon light, making them gleam like honey, “... calling.”

“Hmm.”

Tsukki straightened up off the fence and pulled something out of his back pocket, “alright, that’s what I thought. I just wanted to hear the reasoning from the source himself. Listen, I happened by this… here.”

He held out a little book, silently urging Shouyou to take it. At first glance, Shouyou couldn’t tell what it was, but took it hesitantly and inspected the front cover, finding that it was a pocket-sized Japanese to Portuguese dictionary. Shouyou blinked at it for a moment, then looked back into Tsukki’s face. The latter was gazing back at him coolly, but there seemed to be some unnamed, other emotion there that Shouyou couldn’t place. 

It was probably just how final everything seemed since it was graduation day and there were no more games to be played together, but Shouyou felt like he was on the very edge of his secret; Tsukki’s handsome, sunset-lit face wasn’t helping matters.  _ Augh! What is this timing?! Why are you being so nice?! _

“Tsukki! Th-thanks! I- Let’s… let’s play volleyball together again sometime, okay?” Shouyou said, maybe a little bit louder than he intended because Tsukki looked pained for a flash of a second.

“Sure. Just wear a life-jacket if you go in the ocean. Though I imagine you’ll just be up to your ears in sand the entire time,” Tsukki said, smirking, but it melted into a genuinely sincere smile before he said, “take care, Shouyou.”

Shouyou stared with his mouth drifting open, watching Tsukki’s retreating figure as he turned and strode away. His soulmate popped his headphones on casually while he walked and kept up that relaxed pace until he was completely out of the school gates.  _ This is the right choice… right? I can’t just tell him now… I know it should be the simplest thing, but… how is that fair? I’m leaving and I’m afraid of his answer. I’m afraid of his answer because I know how much I want it to be ‘yes.’ Arrrrrrgggghhh! Focus! Geez! It’s just a book!  _

Shouyou spun around and headed back towards the volleyball gym, needing to spike some balls and stand in that musky atmosphere amongst the well-worn, wooden floors and taut net just one more time.


	21. TK

“Wow, Tsukki! Check this place out?! Are you sure you’re going to be alright juggling both?” Tadashi said in mild wonderment, gazing around the open-concept entryway and kitchen with a box cradled in his arms. 

“Yes, I’m sure I’ll manage,” Kei replied, huffing slightly as he put down a large box that clearly had books in the very bottom, hidden under the pretense of clothing. In retrospect, he didn’t know why he thought it would be helpful to ask Akiteru to help him pack, because his brother had always been a little disorganized.

It was nearly April, and Kei was fully settled into life as a college student. A little less so than Tadashi, who had jumped on the higher education bandwagon basically the day after graduation, but Kei had been adjusting to the change well enough. Since classes went fine for the first semester, he had decided to take the plunge and try out for a professional volleyball team in Sendai; especially with the second semester wrapping up nicely too. 

It was slightly strange timing though, as the annual Kurowashiki All Japan tournament was happening in about a month, yet the Sendai Frogs posted for team tryouts anyway. They were a second division team, so it seemed like less pressure. Kei had simply attended, complied with what was asked of him, and received a call a week later informing him that he’d made the team. They even offered team housing which was located closer to the sports training complex they rented out, along with other various sports teams, regardless of player status. Kei couldn’t see any reason not to move into the housing, especially since it was provided as part of the contract for joining the team.

“I’m a little surprised I made the team… the Kurowashiki tournament is coming up soon, and it’s weird that they’d vet a new player so close to it… don’t you think?” Kei asked, taking a brief inventory of the meager amount of boxes they’d moved from Akiteru’s car so far. 

“Oh, yeah? Well… we all know how skilled you are, Tsukki. It shows. I think maybe the question should be, why was there an opening in the first place…?” Tadashi commented, putting down his box next to the other. 

“‘Cause a previous player got suspended for ‘unseemly conduct’,” a voice called out from a bedroom doorway across the other side of the kitchen. 

Kei glanced over, knowing that it was one of his new roommates and teammates on the Sendai Frogs. The person, however, was a bit of a surprise as it was Kyoutani, or ‘mad dog’ as Suga-san once referred to him, from Seijoh. He still had short, bleach blonde-dyed hair with black accents on the sides and dark circles under his scowling eyes. 

“Oh my, whatever for?” Kei replied blandly, “nice to see you again, Kyoutani-san. I guess we’re roommates now as well as teammates. I’m Tsukishima, this is Yamaguchi.”

The former Seijoh ace nodded shortly, then walked closer, peering at the boxes, “I remember… there’s one other from the team who lives here too, but they’re gone often…need any help with the boxes, then?”

“Hm? Ah… sure, if you’re willing, thank you,” Kei answered, further surprised by the guy’s docile attitude. It was possible he was only a beast on the court if Kei had to speculate. Besides, the last time they faced-off was years ago. 

Kyoutani nodded again, then they all headed back to the car to grab the last of the boxes. With his new roommate’s help, it only took one last trip, then they found themselves standing around that large, open kitchen. Tadashi tapped away on his phone for a few seconds, the habit seemingly well-ingrained at this point and Kei didn’t even need to guess to know whom he was so distracted by. 

Kyoutani suddenly moved towards the fridge while taking off his jacket and tossing it over the back of a chair. Kei spied a tattoo on the other’s bicep immediately. It was half-covered by his shirt sleeve, but became visible when the guy shifted to open the fridge door; it looked like some sort of silhouette of a fox springing over a dog. Kei’s eyes lingered on it for a brief moment, honestly a little curious as it struck him that he had seen something similar to it before, but he couldn’t recall where.

Kei pulled his attention away from his new roommate and opened the box on the table right in front of him in an attempt to locate his headphones; he was really starting to regret letting Akiteru pack. A moment later he heard Tadashi start talking on the phone with someone, while Kyoutani-san clanged around in the kitchen. He idly wondered if both his new roommates were noisy or if it would just be the one when he heard an even louder crash and accompanying yelp.

“Ahhh!” Tadashi yelped too, reflexively, then started for the kitchen, “Tsukki, catch!”

He threw his phone to Kei and darted into the kitchen to see what happened to Kyoutani-san. Kei deftly caught the device and raised his eyebrows at his friend, genuinely impressed with his ‘captain mode’. Tadashi called out a millisecond later, “it’s fine!”

“Uwaaah! Tsukki! Didja get even taller?!” Shouyou’s bright voice filled Kei’s ears.

He startled and squinted down at the phone, realizing it was a video call with the shrimp, but the screen was lit up blindingly bright. It forced Kei to narrow his eyes, even more, to confirm that he was in fact talking to Shouyou; in reality, he was blindsided by more than just the glare off the screen.

“Huh? There’s no way you could tell that through this thing?!” Kei complained, a little bewildered. The sound of Shouyou’s vibrant laughter came blaring out of the phone and Kei grimaced, trying to cup the device with his hand to actually see the person he was talking to.

“Wait… where are you? It’s so bright,” Kei asked in agitation.

“The beach!” Shouyou chirped happily, “hold on!”

Kei thought he glimpsed Shouyou swiveling around in a flurry of shapes and colors to put the ocean behind him, then the light suddenly evened out, bringing everything into view. His soulmate was holding his phone out in front of his face, but Kei saw that he sat on a little mat on the sand, waves rolling languidly just beyond him.

“Better?”

Kei stared, nearly transfixed on the sight. He couldn’t really get a crystal clear view of Shouyou with the way he was moving his phone around, but the setting itself was bizarre. He snapped out of his trance and asked incredulously, “Isn’t it… like six in the morning over there?!”

“Yep!” Shouyou said, beaming through the screen, “it’s around eight there, right? Whatcha doin’?”

“Hm? I think the new roommate’s making dinner… or maybe trying too…” Kei answered, still lost in thought about Shouyou’s morning beach habits, or simply seeing him for the first time in about a year.

“New roommate? I thought you were staying at your parents’ while you went to school?”

“Who told you that? I moved in with some new teammates today. I joined the Sendai Frogs…” Kei replied dryly, then questioned, “what are you doing on the beach so early?”

“Uwaahhh! Tsukki! That’s great! Wooow! That means that when I get back, we’ll totally get to compete against each other in a tournament! Awwriiight!” Shouyou responded brightly, and Kei wondered fleetingly if he would have to cup the phone screen again. 

Abruptly, someone called out in Portuguese, causing his soulmate to look off to the side. He smiled at whoever was speaking and gave them a thumbs-up while saying something back in Portuguese too. Then he turned back toward his screen and said, rapid-fire, “Tsukki! I gotta go! My yoga class is about to start… they were thinking about canceling it just a few minutes ago because of the wind speeds today, but it looks like it’s happening now…we’ll see though! Kinda hard to hold tree-pose when you’re being blown about, y’know? Haha!... ah! Anyway, it was super nice to talk to you! Show them all your awesome blocking, ‘kay? Tell Tadashi I said ‘hi’ and that I’ll call him later this week, thanks! ‘Bye!”

“‘Bye,” Kei echoed in bemusement, completely taken aback by the entire experience. Before he could rouse himself to say something else, Shouyou hung up, leaving him staring at a blank phone screen. _What in the world...?_

“Hah! Tsukki, your face! What happened to Shouyou? Did he have to go or something? Ehh… I barely got to talk to him,” Tadashi wandered over casually, a surprisingly smug smile lingering on his lips, “that look is priceless, by the way. Really, what happened?”

“You know, I really don’t know,” Kei answered quietly, furrowing his brows. There was a lot to unpack there and he already felt inundated with unpacking at the moment.

It felt like just a few days, but it had really been several weeks since Kei settled into his new team and the Kurowashiki tournament was nearly upon them. However, he knew that it only seemed so quick because now there were rigorous volleyball practices in addition to finishing up assignments and taking finals for the semester. The extra effort wasn’t as much of a burden as he anticipated, even though he had to be careful about finding a good balance between activities. Although, it was unfortunate that he had a final exam a day before his first game with the Sendai Frogs. It just so happened that the tournament was being held in Sendai this year, which was really convenient in finding that balance.

Kei put on his shoes and tied them up snuggly, preparing to head out to a cafe and study, when the doorbell rang. He paused and looked up at the door in front of him, then stood and opened it.

“Akira?” Kei said, a little puzzled to see his friend standing there.

“We’re not together,” Kunimi stated flatly in lieu of a friendly greeting.

Kei put a hand on his hip and peered at him, now genuinely confused, “Yes, I know…?”

A second later, he realized that Kunimi was shifting his focus between him and something just beyond. Kei glanced over his shoulder, seeing that Kyoutani-san was standing there silently in the entryway like he had come to answer the door as well; he seemed exceptionally irritated. It only took a moment for Kei to work out a possible reason. _Oh, I see. Well, that’s my cue._

“Ah… I’ll be leaving then,” Kei said lightly, grabbing his book bag and sweeping past Kunimi, who was still gazing steadily at Kyoutani-san. Kei smirked and patted his friend’s shoulder consolingly before leaving them alone completely.

He found his way to his favorite cafe pretty quickly after that, placed an order for a cappuccino, then sat down at a table. The place was decently quiet and he took out his study materials, then opened his laptop to find an article he needed for reference. He swept a hand across his head, feeling that telltale pressure that would surely grow into a headache. It was probably from all the screen time he used while studying, straining his eyes.

“Tsukki-kun!”

Kei looked up, knowing that wasn’t the name he gave the barista barely a minute beforehand, and found Miya-san instead.

“Oh, hi, Miya-san,” Kei greeted him. The latter strode over casually and plopped down in the seat in front of him, sighing like he really needed to take a breather. Kei took in his appearance for a second, noting that the other was wearing athletic clothes and running shoes. Despite all that, he still had that swishy blonde-dyed undercut and sly, smug countenance. Kei lowered the screen on his laptop a little as a courtesy then commented, “hmm, the tournament. That’s right… so, how are you liking Sendai?”

“Just fine, just fine! Lotsa mountain air around here! You gonna go watch the tournament, then?” Miya-san replied, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms comfortably across his chest. Kei had a distinct impression that his study plans were just derailed.

“Oh, I’m competing, actually… I’m on the Sendai Frogs now.”

“Well, now! That’s excitin’! Can’t wait to utterly obliterate ya if we wind up in the same bracket! I’d really love to see those unforgivin’ blocks again up close,” Miya-san said, smiling in that way that just screamed judgemental mischief. Kei knew the guy had absolutely no filter, and no need to blow smoke about his skills either. It was kind of funny, that unintentional, social savagery.

“I’m sure you would,” Kei replied, smiling blandly. 

“So, we gonna pick up where we left off? Wanna go out for coffee?” Miya-san asked, glancing around the cafe and smirking easily. 

Kei let out an amused huff, raising his eyebrows incredulously at the setter, “Miya-san, are you flirting with me? Whatever happened to finding your beloved soulmate? Given up?”

“Geh! Nope! It’s like they disappeared off the face of the earth or somethin’...” Miya-san complained, his smirky expression faltering.

“Funny you should say that…” Kei intoned, gazing at the other a little distractedly as he was suddenly reminded of Shouyou. 

Miya-san leered back quizzically, “Say, Tsukki-kun… what about your soulma-“

“Saltyshima! One cappuccino!” A barista called out loudly, drawing Kei’s attention in a snap. _Saltyshima?!_

He scanned the coffee bar and saw a familiar face beaming back at him with a full-on toothy grin. He smirked back then abandoned his things, Miya-san as well by happenstance, and hastened over to get his coffee.

“Hello Noya-san, I didn’t know you worked here?”

Noya-san handed him the wide, ceramic cup while smiling energetically, “yeah, bro! I’ve been working loads to save up and travel! I’m almost at my goal, actually, so I’ll be touring Japan first really soon. Then the world! Anyway, how the heck have you been?”

“Oh my, we’ll have to forewarn the world at large then… I’m in school, it’s fine,” Kei answered politely.

“Hey there, libero-kun! Haven’t seen you around any tournaments, whatcha been doin’?” Miya-san sidled up to the counter too, putting in his two cents. Kei smiled blandly between them, leaned an elbow on the counter, and sipped from his cup, waiting to see where this interaction would go. It might inflame his budding headache, but it also might be somewhat entertaining. He remembered Miya-san being particularly unrelenting towards his former teammate at the last couple of nationals, and he was definitely not nice about it.

“Heeehh?! I’m not playing in a league right now…” Noya-san answered, frowning.

“Well, that’s a real shame. Kinda a waste! I was lookin’ forward to pickin’ on all the crazy crows this tournament…” Miya-san commented, openly scrutinizing the former libero.

“Hah! You could totally try, bruh! But I’d totally catch everything you sent my way!” Noya-san replied loudly, then the other barista came over, sliding a to-go cup forward and giving him a pointed look, “Ah! Oh, here, bruh, your caramel frappe.”

“Hmm? I know someone else who likes that caramel drink too,” Kei said dryly, then shifted off the counter with his own cup in hand, “Well, as enlightening as this has been, I really need to study… have fun on your travels, Noya-san. Excuse me.”

Kei quirked a quick, polite smile at them and retreated back to his belongings, settling down comfortably in the chair, and opening his laptop again. He bent over slightly and peered at his screen as heard someone come sit down noisily in front of him at his table. Keeping his attention on his screen, he peeked over the rim of his glasses to double-check that it was who he thought; he wasn’t wrong, Miya-san had followed him over like a bored puppy and was gazing back intently while taking a long sip of his drink. _Why do I get the feeling this is what Kageyama meant when he complained that this guy kind of stuck around back at that camp?_

“So, I was askin’ ya before, Tsukki-kun… do you know your soulmate?” Miya-san asked, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he was obviously busy. 

“Hm? Oh, it seems we’re in a similar situation on that front,” Kei replied, half-preoccupied by his article search.

“No kiddin’?” Miya-san muttered, fiddling with his straw, “‘Samu says I should just wait it out.”

Kei flitted his eyes from his screen, meeting the other’s for a second before refocusing and finally finding what he was searching for, then said listlessly, “Seems like I tend to agree with your brother.”

Miya-san scoffed and Kei glanced up again in time to catch a wonderfully disgruntled expression wash across the setter’s face. Kei couldn’t help but laugh at the look. He leaned back in his chair and openly gazed at Miya-san. It was strange, but he couldn’t really focus and block out distractions like usual at the moment. He didn’t think that Miya-san had that much of an attention-demanding pull, however, it seemed like that line of thought was incorrect. He crossed his arms casually, wondering how long this next conversation would have to be to shake this guy free of his funk and allow him to continue studying in peace, “so, why blonde? Please don’t tell me it’s simply because you wanted to be distinguishable from your twin…”

“Alright, I won’t. Why’re you blonde?” Miya-san replied cheekily, smiling lazily. 

Kei felt himself smile again, “mine’s natural… my mother’s American, well, originally anyway.”

“Whoa-ho! No wonder you’re so popular!” 

“But seriously, why blonde? You aren’t _that_ hard to tell apart, you know?” Kei pressed on, ignoring the other’s baseless presumption.

“It was somethin’ new,” Miya-san grinned, “whatcha studyin’ there?”

“Anthropology,” Kei answered flatly, “and I have an exam right before the tournament. So if you don’t mind, Miya-san?” 

“Sure, sure. Real diligent, ain’t ya,” Miya-san smiled away, in that clever, carefree sort of manner that Kei was starting to assume was habitual; not many people were that effortlessly happy. _Ugh, he’s reminding me of Shouyou again. Seriously, how do these guys smile so much?_

The guy stood up and gave a little wave while saying with that pert smile still lingering on his face, “see ya at the tourney, Tsukki-kun.”

“Mhm, sure, good luck,” Kei murmured politely, bringing most of his attention back to his laptop. But he still caught Miya-san grinning even wider before he turned on his heel and left. _Heh! What a weirdo._


	22. HS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: for this chapter, most italicized sentences are used for people speaking in Portuguese.

Shouyou flew through the air after launching himself straight up from the uneven, rippling sand. He spied the ball zinging towards his hand, but felt a sudden gust of wind pick up from behind, blowing it slightly forward. Luckily it was still in reach of his left hand and he nailed it down to free space on the opposing side where it hit, sending specks flying on impact. He landed back down and the opponent started laughing, looking up at him through the net from where he was sprawled out in the sand from going after that spike. Shouyou grinned at him, then turned and high-fived his volleyball partner.

 _“Nice game, Shouyou! You lost this,”_ Heitor said in Portuguese, grinning back and handing him his baseball cap.

 _“Thanks! Whew! I thought I was going to miss that last one. The wind really picked up!”_ Shouyou responded in Portuguese happily, taking his hat from his partner. It was the end of their game with that last point, and they won. 

Shouyou had decided that Heitor would be his last beach volleyball partner during his time abroad, and was glad for the decision. The super tall Brazilian was pretty reliable even if he could slack a little on effort from time to time; Shouyou was grateful the other had approached him a few months ago, asking to partner up. They had been winning their matches left and right, and Heitor probably wouldn’t have a problem finding another partner now that he had gained popularity on the beach scene since he teamed up with Shouyou. Weirdly enough, it didn’t take Shouyou very long to get used to the sand and find lots of different people to team up with. He hadn’t expected that perk of beach volleyball; getting comfortable playing alongside anyone while holding his own on the court. But it definitely boosted his training and flexibility with the game. 

Shouyou took a deep breath in, then let it out, wiping some sweat from his face with a towel. It was the very beginning of December, but it was still a balmy eighty-six degrees outside. He knew his training time in Brazil was coming to a close soon as it had nearly been two years since he first arrived. They only had a few more games to play together, in the sand anyway. 

_“Hey! Nice and I are going to go celebrate, wanna join?”_ Heitor asked genially, waving down his girlfriend from the crowds of people in salt-weathered, wooden stands along the edge of the beach.

Shouyou smiled and shook his head, _“you guys go ahead, I’m going to cool down and stretch. Besides, I told Pedro that we’d watch a movie tonight and I gotta stop by the indoor volleyball gym and talk to Coach. Have fun!”_

 _“Hah! So serious, Shouyou! I can’t believe you can do that junior indoor league training and that delivery job and beach training plus the competitions! You need a break! You should live it up a little!”_ Heitor argued lightly, putting his hands on his hips.

 _“Hahaha! I do have fun and take breaks! I’m training to be a pro, Heitor! Besides, your ‘live it up’ and mine are super different!”_ Shouyou grinned at his laid-back friend. It was funny since he’d never been called _‘serious’_ before and usually had to convince others that he could be; at least, he thought that’s what Heitor had said. He knew Heitor was probably going to be out drinking until midnight or later to celebrate, and he could join, but his body probably wouldn’t appreciate that. Especially at yoga class the next morning.

_“Alright! If you say so… those indoor pro players back in Japan must be pretty intense if you have to be that disciplined to compete with them…”_

_“Mhm! They’re the best! And I’ll need to be able to do everything, be the best too, to stay on the same court and fly. But it’s pretty great… you sure you don’t wanna play an indoor match with me sometime?”_ Shouyou replied, beaming at his partner. He had been trying to get the other to try indoor volleyball just for fun for about a month now, but he always declined. 

_“What? Haha! No way, Shouyou! If you’re that fast and tricky on the sand, there’s no way I’d be able to keep up with you on solid ground! But nice try!”_ Heitor said, laughing. Shouyou just continued to smile and shrugged while Heitor waved genially then left to meet up with Nice.

He gave a little wave too and watched them wander off towards a grouping of restaurants just off the coast. The wind tousled his hair abruptly and he bent down, scooped up a handful of sand, then let it fall slowly, watching the breeze pick it up and send it swishing away in an unexpected direction. He tracked it as best he could while he took a second to reflect on his training. _Haaaah… so temperamental. I think I’d have to spend so much more time here before I could really get a grasp on it… but, I can tell my indoor game has improved! Training on solid ground is so much easier…_

Shouyou wandered back over to his bag that he had left by the stands, nodding in thanks to the referee and owner of the cafe just across the way for watching it. He took a quick glance over himself, feeling particularly sandy and sweaty, and shucked his shirt. The ocean looked really inviting for a quick dip before he needed to stretch his body; sand sticking to sweaty skin had a different, grittier feel than sand left over from seawater anyway.

The water was cooler than he thought it would be, but that was a nice, soothing sort of surprise. After a few minutes of floating around, he went back to his stuff that he’d left just up on the berm and toweled off. Rummaging in his bag, he snagged a random, dry, touristy t-shirt his roommate bought for him and pulled it on. Then he found a good, level, mostly quiet spot on the beach, just before the waves would reach him, and settled down comfortably on his yoga mat. It felt like he was only sitting there, listening to the low roar of the surf for about five minutes before his phone began ringing loudly. He snatched it out of his bag and answered the video call, “hey!”

“Shouyou, that was a great game,” Kenma’s voice came through quietly, almost drowned out by the surf, and Shouyou grinned at his friend’s image on the screen.

“Kenma! You saw it?!”

“Yes, they usually live stream the matches, you can watch online. Nice spike at the end there… I was so certain it drifted away,” Kenma commented, somewhat hushed, causing Shouyou to lean closer to his phone to hear better.

“Hnn? What?”

“Are you still on the beach?” His friend said a little louder, but it was drowned out by a beachgoer this time who called out excitedly in Portuguese, _‘hey!’_

Shouyou turned to find a small group of people approaching him, _“it’s Ninja Shouyou! Hey, hey, let’s hang out, grab a drink!”_

“Ah! One minute, Kenma!” Shouyou said hurriedly to his phone, then switched to Portuguese for the others, _“hi! Ah, maybe another time! But thanks! Did you like the game?”_

 _“Yeah! It was great!_ Nice kill! _At the end!”_

 _“Awesome, thanks! Um, well, sorry, I’m on a call,”_ Shouyou said, tipping his head towards his phone in apology, _“excuse me!”_

The locals smiled and nodded, then just waved genially while wandering off. Shouyou watched them go for a moment, but heard a familiar voice speak up, “you can hear the ocean, he’s definitely still at the beach. Does he live on the shore or something? Maybe beach bum training was included in the package.”

“Was that Tsukki?” Shouyou said, refocusing on his screen, but only seeing Kenma’s mildly amused face. 

“Yes, he’s here. Tadashi as well. Were those some friends? We can call back later…” Kenma said quietly again.

“Ahhh! Hahaha! It was nothin’! Don’t mind… just some locals who follow beach volleyball,” Shouyou answered, sheepishly, “I, uh… I’m kinda famous over here?”

“Oh! Ninja Shouyou, right?!” Tadashi suddenly filled the screen too, leaning heavily right into Kenma, who let out a small ‘oof’. Tadashi didn’t seem to think twice about bowling over his soulmate and continued, “they’ve been calling you that for a while now though, right? Are you going to tell us why?”

“I’ve seen why in a few videos… we should watch Shouyou’s last game together,” Kenma commented before Shouyou could explain.

“Bwah?! You’re going to watch even more of my games?” He exclaimed, a little surprised. But it sort of made sense, since Kenma sponsored him with his company’s brand. Shouyou always made sure to wear his friend’s merch during games if he could. _Ah! I’m glad I didn’t lose that hat!_

“Yes. I saw the hat, too. Thanks, Shouyou,” Kenma answered with a small smile as if he had read Shouyou’s mind.

Tsukki’s face suddenly lingered in view, hovering behind the other two. They must have called from Kenma’s tablet to fit so many on camera. Tsukki looked comically skeptical, especially as a floating head, and he squinted while saying, “forget the hat. What on earth are you wearing now? I need sunglasses.”

Shouyou paused and frowned in confusion, then looked down at his own chest. It was that bright teal, sparkly, bedazzled tourist shirt. He was almost certain Pedro only bought it as a joke during Carnival earlier that year, but he wore it anyway from time to time. 

Shouyou grinned and looked back at the phone, _“Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro!”_

“Ugh… Shouyou, really?” Tsukki grimaced, muttering almost too softly as it was swallowed up by the sound of background waves and the others’ laughter. Shouyou beamed at them brightly, feeling nostalgic. It was most definitely his soulmate's appalled expression stirring up these emotions, and it was nice to hear that soft tone, even if the other wasn’t amused.

“Well, I feel like I’ve had enough vitamin D for the whole week now, ‘bye,” Tsukki said, sounding disgruntled and he swept out of view to who knows where. Shouyou furrowed his brows at the screen, wondering what he meant, but brushed it off and smiled at his friends. It was hard not to with Tadashi laughing again and Kenma wearing that contented smile; they looked really happy. Shouyou suddenly wanted to end the call, feeling the nostalgia starting to nip a little meaner than before, but at the same time, he didn’t want to let go.

“So, are you excited to come home soon? Seems to me you’ve leveled up enough,” Kenma asked, maintaining that quiet smile and leaning into Tadashi like he just couldn’t bother holding himself upright anymore. 

Shouyou thought about it while he watched Tadashi wrap an arm around the other’s shoulders comfortably, then answered, “yeah… being here is really cool. I’ve done a lot of super cool things and met a lot of super cool people, but I miss home. I miss seeing Natsu’s face, and cold winters, and taking trains everywhere, and natto. I mean, there’re lots of amazing things about living in Rio, and I’ve really loved a lot of it! But it’ll be nice to walk down the street and be completely familiar with everything again.”

Kenma simply hummed in thought while Tadashi said, “then, it sounds like it’ll be bittersweet.”

“Yeah, that’s a good way to say it. Oh! But coming back also means I get to put all this training to the test and I’m so ready for that!” Shouyou added, enthusiastically. He paused and squinted down at the time, “ahhh, I gotta run… I need to be somewhere before it closes. I’ll text ya later!”

“‘Bye, Shouyou!”

He closed out the call, quickly shook out, and rolled up his mat, tucking it safely in his bag. After making sure he had everything, he visited the indoor gym and had a quick word with Coach about his plans for the rest of his time in Rio since he only had a few games left, then he found himself back at his apartment.

“ _Pedro!_ _I’m back! I’m going to make some dinner, are you hungry too?”_ Shouyou asked in Portuguese while putting his stuff away, taking off his shoes then moving to the kitchen. 

Pedro rounded the corner from his room and replied in Japanese, “yes, if you’re making already.” 

Shouyou grinned at him and nodded. They didn’t get along too well at first because Pedro happened to be very shy, but they ended up developing a solid friendship over their mutual love of manga and anime. Especially since Shouyou used it to help him learn Portugese. Pedro wanted to learn Japanese too, so they agreed to speak in each other’s languages for practice. 

“ _I’ll make my favorite traditional then,_ eggs with rice, _sound good?”_

“Yes! Thank you!” Pedro answered, coming into their little kitchen and sitting down at the table with a book. Shouyou checked the rice cooker, then started putting together the rest of dinner, turning around to look over his shoulder as Pedro said, “I think my soulmate is Japan.”

“ _Hnn? Like your_ tattoo?” Shouyou tried to ask, but he didn’t know the word for ‘tattoo’. 

“Tattoo?” Pedro repeated, then pulled out his phone and typed away for a few seconds before saying, “yeah, mine is here.”

Pedro stood and pulled up his shirt a little bit, exposing his midriff and revealing a colorful, intricately decorated rose. 

Shouyou glanced at it curiously, then nodded and refocused on dinner while asking, “ _nice! Mine’s on my… uh, ‘foot’?”_ He lifted his foot off the ground and turned his tattooed ankle towards his roommate. Then he grinned, put his leg back down, and focused on finishing up the eggs, turning off the stove; it would be a little challenging to have this conversation with the language barrier. He had a great volleyball, general living, and directions related vocabulary for Portuguese, but not specifically about soulmates.

“Do you think the soulmate phenomenon affects the interests?” Pedro asked, but Shouyou didn’t quite know what he was talking about.

“What?”

“ _Ehhh… you know, like the things we like? Do you think they’re affected by the phenomenon somehow? Like, I love Japanese culture and things like that, so I kind of think my soulmate might be abroad. My words are in Japanese too. Do you feel like your interests have connected you to your soulmate?”_ Pedro tried again in Portuguese, still gazing at Shouyou over the top of One Piece.

“Uhh…” Shouyou faltered, giving his brain a minute to catch up, “...hnn.”

He finished up plating the food and brought it over to the table, sliding Pedro’s dish over to him, then sat down too. This was turning out just as tricky as he thought. For starters, he wasn’t even sure he understood Pedro’s questions, and even if he did get the gist, he’d never thought about the phenomenon like that before.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I’ve never thought about it like that before. _I don’t know… I have two, but I only know one of my soulmates. They like volleyball too, I guess? But, how does that work? My words are, uh…_ foreign? So, I’m not sure about all of that… maybe? Does anyone know? Have you ever felt the bond?” Shouyou finally answered, trying to explain himself as best he could while switching between Japanese and Portuguese. He paused to take another bite, then asked, “ _where did this come from anyway?”_

 _“Ah, soulmate plotline,”_ Pedro said, lifting the manga up before setting it down and taking a bite too, “felt it?”

“Hn, yeah, the buzz? Well, I know I’ve met at least one of my soulmates through my interests… but who knows about the other? I’m pretty sure I’ve come across them at least twice, but couldn’t figure out from where… _it was too crowded._ But what if they like something random like… uh…” Shouyou glanced around their apartment briefly, “... food? Farming? Oh, but people can have more than one interest, duh, so there’s that too. For example, my soulmate, uh, the one I know, likes volleyball which we have in common, but he also really loves music. Then again, I’ve had so much trouble getting to know him so far even though we both like volleyball and I might not even come across the second soulmate again… let alone get along with them.”

Pedro furrowed his brows, then took another bite, pausing like he needed a minute or two to digest everything. Shouyou frowned slightly, realizing he probably just rambled way too much for the other to understand what he was saying, but Pedro replied, “ _oh, yeah? I think I’d just go for it. It might take a little while to work up the courage, but I’ve heard that it’s worth it even if it’s hard.”_

“ _Courage?_ Haha! You’re probably right! Well, if you ever decide to come to Japan, you can totally stay with me!” Shouyou said, smiling. He idly mixed his eggs around his rice, wondering about that type of courage.

The whole conversation reminded him that he was going to have to start thinking about what he wanted to do with the situation again. Making plans for his volleyball aspirations seemed so much more like a simple, straightforward, attainable goal, but soon he’d be home and in reach of his soulmates. He’d finally need to decide whether or not to approach Tsukki about everything; maybe he should. Seeing the other after another whole year had passed, even so over such a short video call, felt right. _I guess… even distance didn’t shake these feelings. Is that the bond? Maybe that’s how Bakayama and them managed or how mom and dad still managed to hold it together even though dad was gone so often… ugh, I haven’t thought about that in ages… I wonder if Tsukki would ever return my feelings if he knew about our bond? He’s never seemed interested in soulmates though and he’s super popular. It’s not like he’d have to wait for me or something… He’s probably still popular too… wait… what if he finds our third?! Would he even go for that?! Argh! I’ve seen him reject so many people! How can I manage two people if I can barely figure out one?!... why?! This stuff always drives me crazy!_

“Shouyou…” Pedro called out, bringing Shouyou out of his inner turmoil, _“You okay?”_

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine. _I’m good! Let’s watch that movie after we finish?”_ He replied, smiling back assuredly then taking another bite.

**Author's Note:**

> Last thing: I'm planning on posting a new chapter every few days or so until it's completed. M/W/F's Thanks for reading!


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